Before Harry: How It All Began
by loonymarauder
Summary: My take on how Lily and James got together based on cannon I've pieced together from the books and JK interviews. I'm still in the process of editing. People who have read my story already may want to begin rereading ch1-12 as they have changed so far
1. Chapter 1 Surprises

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Summary: This is a repost of my first fanfic. It's an L/J fic and I've tried to stay as close to canon as possible. That being said I started posting before book 7 came out and so I've had to go back and change a few things and add some others. I'll try to get everything that I have posted edited as quickly as possible. I've gotten as far as old chapter 15, I've added a chapter between 14 and fifteen. To save confusion on the part of my previous readers I've labeled it 14 b. To those of you who may be angry that I have changed it I apologize but my vision for my story changed after reading book 7. It has also helped with my writers block though so hurray! You'll also be happy to know that as part of the revision I have also fixed a lot of typos so the story reads better, at least I hope it does. Thanks for your patience.

Chapter 1 Surprises

17 year old Lily Evans was sitting at the table in the kitchen eating some toast and jam with her mother Rose. It was a warm day in late July and outside the sun was shining brightly giving no indication of the black cloud that was growing ever closer to the wizarding world.

Suddenly Lily looked up and saw an owl flying towards the kitchen window. Lily watched as it soared through the open window and landed in front of her with a familiar envelope made of thick yellow parchment and addressed in emerald green ink.

Her mother jumped slightly as the owl flew in through the window and then laughed.

"You'd think after all these years that I would be used to that by now," Rose said chuckling.

Lily smiled at her mother and removed the owl's burden. The owl spread its wings importantly and took flight as Lily looked at the envelope in her hand. It was thicker than normal…The last time that had happened was in fifth year when she found out she was going to be a prefect. But this was seventh year, the only reason it would be thick like this would be if…no, it can't be, could it?

"Aren't you going to open it, dear?" her mother asked curiously.

"Huh, what? Oh, yeah," Lily was pulled out of her thoughts by her mothers question.

Well, Lily thought, only one way to find out.

Carefully, slowly Lily opened the letter and pulled out the contents. As she did this something gold and shiny fell out of the envelope and clattered onto the table. Embossed on the front were the words:

**Head Girl**

Lily Evans

Lily couldn't help it, a huge smile spread across her face. Suddenly more excited Lily looked down at the letters in her hand and quickly unfolded them finding the one she wanted.

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_It is with great pleasure that I inform you that you have been selected as Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the coming school year. This is an honor that should not be taken lightly. As Head Girl you, along with the Head Boy, are a representative of the student body and a role models to the younger students. I have every faith that you will perform your job admirably._

_I'm sure you are wondering who will be your Co-head this year. This year I have chosen your fellow Gryffindor James Potter as Head Boy. I know that the two of you have not gotten along well in the past, but I feel that the two of you are the right people for the job and I know that you will be able to overcome your past differences and work well together. _

_I also ask you to please remember that Mr. Potter was not a Prefect and will therefore require some assistance to familiarize himself with the Prefect system. You are to brief the Prefects on the train on September 1__st__. Further instructions will be left for you in the Head's compartment on the train. I will also meet with both of you after the Welcome Feast. I look forward to working with you both this year._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_

Lily stared at the letter, slightly dumbfounded. Sure she knew that Albus Dumbledore was thought a bit mad, but what possessed him to make James Potter Head Boy. The only person who spent more time in detention than Potter was his best friend Sirius Black. Lily sighed, Dumbledore must have his reasons, perhaps once they started working together she would see them, at least she hoped so.

"Is there something wrong, dear, you don't seem as excited as I thought you would be," Rose said, a slight hint of concern in her voice.

"Huh," Lily said, she seemed to be saying that a lot this morning. "Oh, I'm fine I was just reading my letter. Apparently Dumbledore has made James Potter Head Boy. I've told you about him, he was the boy who turned my hair green in second year."

Rose laughed, "Ah yes, I remember you writing me about that. And I still stand by what I said, 'boys that age only doing things like that to girls they like.'"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Sure Mum, whatever you say."

Just then another owl flew into the kitchen, this time from Lily's best friend Marlene. Lily read through the letter and looked at her mother.

"Marlene and Katie want to know if I can meet them in Diagon Alley on Saturday at noon. Is it ok if I go, you don't have to take me since I passed my test I can just apparate to the Leaky Cauldron," Lily said.

"Apparate?" her mother asked puzzled.

"You remember, it's where you disappear from one place and reappear in another," Lily explained.

"Oh right, I remember now," her mother said with a slight look of amazement at the idea. "Yes, you can go as long as you're back by five, Vernon is coming over for dinner and he'll be here at 7:00 sharp so I might need some help getting ready."

"Oh right dinner with Petunia _and_ Vernon…"

"I wish you and your sister would try and get along," Rose said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"It's not my fault Petunia thinks I'm a freak," said Lily bitterly. Normally Lily and her mother got along very well but Lily hated it when her mother would bring up Lily's relationship with Petunia. Lily wished she and Petunia got along, they had gotten along fairly well when they were little, but when Lily's Hogwarts letter had come Petunia had been incredibly jealous, even though she wouldn't admit it. She had even gone so far as to write Dumbledore himself asking to go to Hogwarts too. But when Dumbledore had told Petunia it wouldn't be possible for her to attend she had decided that anything even remotely associated with magic was abnormal and that Lily was a freak.

"I'm gonna go write a letter to Marlene saying that I can meet them in Diagon Alley now so that Fred doesn't have to sit around the house for too long waiting," Lily told her mother glad for an excuse to escape a conversation about her and Petunia's "relationship."

Lily ran up to her room and flopped down at her desk. She pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write:

_Dear Marlene,_

_Mum says I can meet you guys on Saturday. Noon sounds fine. I just have to be back here by five. My darling sister's boyfriend, the whale, is coming for dinner and Mum said she might need some help getting ready._

_Oh yeah, guess what! I'm Head Girl. I know your disappointed, haha._

At this point Lily stopped, should she mention that somehow Potter managed to become Head Boy? Nah, Marlene would find out soon enough and if Lily didn't say anything it would postpone the inevitable torment Lily knew she would face. Her friends were convinced that if Lily would just concede to go on one date with Potter that she would fall head over heels for him.

_I hope I still have time for fun this year between all the homework and Head Girl duties. I don't want to spend my entire final year doing work. That would suck. Tell Katie I said hi._

_See you Saturday,_

_Lily_

Lily reread the letter, sealed it, tied it to Fred's leg, and brought him over to the window and sent him on his way.

Now that Lily didn't have her letter to Marlene to distract her, her mind wandered back to the letter from Dumbledore. Why would Dumbledore have made James Potter of all people Head Boy. Sure he is supposed to be a good Quidditch Captain, but he had always been so arrogant and he was forever picking on people just because he could, especially Severus Snape. Not that Severus was a saint either, but James treatment of him could be particularly cruel. She could easily imagine James abusing his position. The Slytherins will all be in detentions with negative House points by the end of the first week with Potter in charge. Lily sighed, Dumbledore must have his reasons she though, she just wished she knew what they were, she didn't fancy doing all the work this year. Lily wanted to be able to enjoy last year at Hogwarts too.

It wasn't that she _hated_ Potter exactly, she just found him to be one of the most annoying creatures on earth. For the last two years he had asked her out at every possible opportunity. She couldn't understand why he didn't just give up seeing as she would never agree. The only reason he wanted her to go out with him is because, unlike the rest of the female population of Hogwarts, Lily didn't fall at his feet. It was all a game to him and she refused to be some toy he would only be interested in until the newness wore off.

Besides that he was an arrogant prat! Showing off every chance he got, messing up his hair, acting as though everyone should worship the ground he walked on just because he could put a stupid red ball through a hoop. He didn't care one bit about anyone but himself. Heck, Potter and his best friend Sirius Black even kept poor Peter Pettigrew around so they would always have someone to worship at their feet. Why he let them Lily couldn't even fathom. With a sigh of frustration Lily walked over to her trunk and picked up her Transfiguration book. She hadn't finished all her summer homework yet and she was hoping that working on Transfiguration, which would require her full focus, would distract her from the fact that in just over one months time she would be force to work with Potter.


	2. Chapter 2 Absolute Shock and Confusion

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I have no money. Please don't sue.

Chapter 2 Absolute Shock and Confusion

Several hundred miles away two boys raced down the hall of a large manor. One had extremely messy black hair, glasses, and hazel eyes. The other had neat black hair that always fell right back into place and gray eyes.

James slowed down right before entering the large kitchen causing Sirius to bump into him.

"Oof! Hey mate, warn me when you're gonna stop suddenly like that," Sirius said, annoyed.

James just rolled his eyes.

"Good morning boys," said Mrs. Potter smiling brightly. "Did you sleep well? I hope you weren't up too late."

"I slept fine Mum," said James, while trying to stifle a yawn, "we got plenty of sleep."

Suddenly James noticed two yellow envelopes addressed to Sirius and himself in emerald green ink.

"Why didn't you tell us our Hogwarts letters came?" James asked excitedly.

"James, I know you've already been here a whole thirty seconds, but I'm not as young as I used to be, you have to give me a few extra seconds," Mrs. Potter, replied trying to sound annoyed, but the smile on her face made it evident that she wasn't.

Sirius picked up the letters and handed James's to him. A look of confusion suddenly spread across Sirius's face.

"What's wrong mate?" James asked in response to his friends look.

"Your letter's thicker than mine," said Sirius.

James looked at Sirius like he was crazy, but then looked down at his letter and realized that Sirius was right.

"Oh no, Dumbledore's come to his senses and he's decided to expel me," Sirius suddenly stated horror struck.

"Sirius, if Dumbledore were going to expel you I'm quite certain he already would have in fifth year," James said reasonably.

"But what if…" Sirius began, before James cut him off.

"Padfoot, your letter is the same thickness its been every year, if you were expelled wouldn't you think it would be thinner than normal?"

Sirius looked at James for a minute then said, "Hmm, good point," and proceeded to open his letter.

"You're right, I'm not expelled," he said happily, "but then why is your envelope so much thicker?"

"No idea," James replied. "Let's open it and find out."

James tore open the envelope and pulled the letters out of the envelope. As he did so a shiny gold badge fell out onto the floor.

"Why did they send you a new Quidditch Captain badge, did you lose the old one?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"No, its sitting on my dresser right where I left it, maybe they changed the design for some odd reason," James suggested as he reached over to pick it up, placing the papers in his hand on the table.

James picked up the badge and looked at it:

**Head Boy**

James Potter

James was struck dumb. He stared at the badge in his hand. Head Boy, him? No way, maybe he got Remus's letter by mistake. But then why was his name on it.'

"James, mate, are you okay?" Sirius asked. "What's wrong?"

Still too shocked to speak and not entirely believing what he was seeing, James picked up the letters from Hogwarts. There it was, a letter from Dumbledore:

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_It is with great pleasure that I inform you that you have been selected as Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the coming school year. This is an honor that should not be taken lightly. As Head Boy you, along with the Head Girl, are a representative of the student body and a role model to the younger students. I have every faith that you will perform your job admirably._

_I'm sure that this will have come as a bit of a shock but I believe you are the best choice for the job. I know that you have a reputation for causing trouble, but you are also a top student and have proven yourself to be an excellent leader as Quidditch Captain these past two years. I will not deny some of the teachers are a little worried that you are not mature enough for this position but I believe certain events have proven otherwise and I am fully confident that you will perform your role admirably._

_I'm sure you are wondering who will be your Co-head this year. This year I have chosen your fellow Gryffindor Lily Evans as Head Girl. I know that the two of you have not gotten along well in the past but I feel that the two of you are the right people for the job and I know that you will be able to overcome your past differences and work well together. _

_I know that you are not as familiar with the Prefect system as Miss Evans is so please do not hesitate to ask her any questions you may have. You are to brief the Prefects on the train on September 1__st__. Further instructions will be left for you in the Head's compartment on the train. I will also meet with both of you after the Welcome Feast. I look forward to working with you both this year._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_

James stared and read the letter over several times to make sure that he had indeed read it correctly. Perhaps this was some joke, but who would ever think of it, not even Sirius would ever consider the idea of James being Head Boy, even just as a prank.

"James, sweetie, are you all right?" his mother asked concerned, it was very unlike James to be this quite when his Hogwarts letter arrived, usually he immediately launched into plans to meet his friends in Diagon Alley or Gryffindor's prospects of winning the Quidditch and House Cup.

"What does the letter say, mate?" Sirius asked curiously. "He hasn't expelled you has he?" Sirius asked, only half jokingly.

"Dumbledore's gone mad," James said quietly.

"The letter says Dumbledore's gone mad?" Sirius asked confused.

"No," said James, confusion evident in his voice, "It says I'm Head Boy."

Sirius snorted, "Good one James, what does the letter really say?"

"That I'm Head Boy," James repeated, handing the letter to his mother and showing the badge to Sirius.

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed his mother with a huge smile on her face. "I have to owl your father right now and tell him, he'll be so proud."

"Mum, it's not that big a deal," said James, flushing slightly at his mother's excitement.

"Not a big deal?! Don't be ridiculous dear, this is wonderful!"

James sighed knowing nothing he could do would stifle his mother's excitement and a small part of him, he had to admit, didn't want to.

Later that night James's father came home carrying a long thin package.

"Hi, Dad," James said as his father entered the room. "What's that?" James asked pointing to the package his father was holding.

"This is your congratulations on becoming Head Boy present," Mr. Potter stated matter of factly.

"Dad, you didn't have to get me a present, I already have a perfectly good broom," James said, completely serious.

"I know," said Mr. Potter smiling, "but I had to run to Diagon Alley for your mother and I saw this sitting in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies and I just couldn't resist."

"In the window," James asked, trying to fight the feeling of excitement that was slowly growing inside him like a bubble. It's probably just the new Cleansweep 3, he told himself. Even if he was Head Boy, there was no way his father would have bought him a Nimbus 1, which according to _Which Broomstick_, would revolutionize the racing broom industry. Sure his parents were rich and certainly they were guilty of spoiling him a bit, but they would never buy him something _that_ expensive. He and his father had even discussed the matter at Christmas time when its summer release was announced. Mr. Potter had told James that if he wanted the Nimbus he would have to do some extra work to earn part of the cost.

James carefully took the package from his father. Sirius, who was sitting in a chair across from James, looked at the package eagerly. Slowly, James unwrapped the package and out rolled the most spectacular broomstick he had ever seen.

"Dad, you shouldn't have…I…thank you," was all James could think of to say.

His father smiled, "Your mother and I are very proud of you, I won't deny I was a little shocked at first, what with all the trouble you boys manage to get into at school. However, Dumbledore wouldn't have chosen you without good reason so you must have done something to impress him."

James couldn't help but feel slightly guilty as he and Sirius examined James's new broom from every possible angle. Even though he knew that it wasn't a financial struggle for his father to buy him this broom, he couldn't help but wonder if he really deserved it. Sure Dumbledore thought that James would make a good Head Boy, but what if Dumbledore was wrong…James was determined not to let the Headmaster down.

Later that night James and Sirius were lounging around in James's room listening to Sirius's new favorite band, The Weird Sisters.

"I can't believe Dumbledore made you Head Boy," Sirius declared suddenly.

"Neither can I," James said.

"Just think of all the trouble we can cause, all the points we can take from the Slytherins," Sirius said with a maniacal grin on his face.

"No," said James firmly.

"What do you mean no?" Sirius asked in obvious confusion.

"I'm not going to take points from the Slytherins just because I can, that wouldn't be right. And this is not an open invitation for us to screw around more, you can't go hog wild and expect to get away with it just because I'm Head Boy, Sirius," James stated in such a serious tone that Sirius looked at James as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" James asked. "Dumbledore trusted me enough to give me the job, you can't just expect me to abuse it and use it for my own personal gain?" James asked this time with a slight hint of anger in his voice.

"I think I suddenly understand why Dumbledore made you Head Boy," Sirius said, looking at James as though seeing him for the first time. "You're serious, no more pranks, no docking ridiculous numbers of points from Slytherin? That's like the ultimate power, man!"

"I can't dock points from the Slytherins just because I feel like it," James said sounding annoyed bordering on angry. "Dumbledore trusts me to do my job."

"So you're gonna tell me your gonna stop completely, even if Snivelly attacks you, you're just gonna take it?" Sirius couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No," said James with a slight edge in his voice, "Snivellous is an evil git. If he tries to attack me I'm not just going to stand there and take it. But, unfortunately, I can't take points just because he exists."

Sirius just stared at him, in seven years he had only heard James be this serious twice. The first time was when they finally figured out that Remus was a werewolf. The second was fifth year, when James found out Sirius had told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow.

"So," Sirius said in an attempt to lighten the mood, "I wonder who the Head Girl is going to be? I thought Evans was a definite, but as you're the Head Boy and the Heads usually come from different houses I guess she's out. I can't really think of any of the other girl Prefects who would do as good a job though. Unless Dumbledore decided to really rock the boat and the Head Girl was never a Prefect either."

James laughed at him.

"What?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Well according to the letter that Dumbledore sent the Head Girl is _indeed_ Lily Evans," James said with a grin.

Perhaps being forced to work together would allow them to finally get to know each other. They weren't enemies per say, but they didn't exactly get along either. James had harbored an interest in Lily Evans since the first time he'd laid eyes on her. She was stunningly pretty with fiery red hair and almond shaped emerald green eyes. It had started out as nothing more than that, just an innocent little crush on a pretty girl. It wasn't even until fifth year that he had asked her out. Sure he had thought about it, but he didn't want her to be his first date and end up making a complete fool of himself. Unfortunately although James was a perfectly nice person, he now realized that his past actions hadn't always shown it. Needless to say, when he had asked her out she had said resolutely, "No!" It probably hadn't helped that he had asked her while he was in the middle of publicly humiliating her friend. Though why she had ever been friends with Snape was beyond him. Though on the plus side, it was during that incident that Lily had finally seen Snape for who he really was, an evil, prejudice, Voldemort loving, git.

Unfortunately, James, being himself, had refused to take no for an answer and persisted in asking her out at every opportunity after that. She of course refused and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to convince her to give him a chance.

He still couldn't quite pinpoint the point when he went from having a small crush on Lily to genuinely wanting nothing more than to be her boyfriend. He knew he had realized it sometime in fifth year but he wasn't sure when. She was one of those genuinely good people who was always kind to everyone even those who didn't deserve it. Even after that disastrous incident in fifth year after their DADA O.W.L. when Snivelly had called her the M-word in front of everyone she refused to treat him with anything worse than disinterest. Sure she didn't stand up for him as vocally as she had on that day, and apparently she had ended their friendship, but she never joined in like others did when he and Sirius were tormenting Snape and she made it very clear that she didn't think it was right to harass Snape or any other Slytherins just because of who they were.

He wished he had understood before why she wouldn't go out with him. She had been right he was an "arrogant, bullying, toe rag," he just wished he'd realized it sooner.

Oh well, maybe this year things would be different. Part of James worried that she would be angry that she had to work with him. She probably thought he would slack off and make her do all the work. Not that he could blame her, he'd be thinking the same thing if he were in her shoes.

"Haaawwwh," Sirius yawned, snapping James out of his reverie. "Man I'm tired. Well, congratulations Prongs…I guess. I'm off to bed. See you in the morning."

"Night Padfoot," James said somewhat absentmindedly.

After Sirius left James continued to lie on his bed staring at the ceiling his mind wandering back to the fact that he was Head Boy and would be working with Lily Evans. Suddenly he came to a decision. If they were going to be working together they were going to need to learn to get along like Dumbledore said. It shouldn't be too hard, exactly friends but they didn't exactly hate each other either. Sure her opinion of him was entirely based on his acting like a total prat whenever she was around, but that was mostly his fault for acting like that and causing her to not want to get to know the real James.

Almost unconsciously James got up, walked over to his desk, and pulled out a quill and parchment.

_Dear Evans,_

No, no if they were going to work together they should call each other by their first names. He crossed out the first line and started again:

_Dear Lily,_

Yes that sounded better.

_I'm sure by now you too have received your Hogwarts letter telling you that you have been selected as Head Girl. Congratulations! I'm sure or at least I hope, that Dumbledore told you in your letter that I would be Head Boy. I was just as shocked and confused as I'm sure you are, but where Dumbledore is concerned I find it's best not to question it, it's times like this I wonder if he's lost his mind. _

_Anyway, I know that you and I haven't exactly been friends in the past and that I haven't really given you a reason not to think that I am an arrogant prat, however, since we are going to be working together this year I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the fact that we have to work together before we actually board the Hogwarts Express. _

_I'm sure you are concerned that I won't pull my own weight or that I will abuse my position. I want to tell you that I won't. I'm not sure you'll believe me, I'm not sure I would believe me if I were in your shoes, but I wanted to tell you anyway. Dumbledore chose me for this position, even though I think some of the other Professors think he's crazy, and I don't intend to let him down._

_I finally understand why you always tell me I'm "an arrogant, bullying, toe rag." It's because I am. You were right and I'm sorry._

_Although we haven't gotten along that great in the past I would like to try and get along seeing as we will have to work together and I think it will make things easier if we actually get along while doing it. _

_Tell me what you think._

_Your fellow head,_

_James Potter_

_P.S. I know you don't have an owl so I've told Merlin to wait patiently so he can bring me back your response. _

_P.P.S. I also think if we are going to get along that we should start calling each other by our first names. It sounds much friendlier, like we're on the same side and will give us more authority._

James read over what he had written and decided that although it sounded oddly formal, that was probably for the best and so he sealed the letter, attached it to his Merlin's leg, and sent him off, hoping that Lily would take him seriously.


	3. Chapter 3 A Surprising Proposition

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does.

A/N: Hello everyone. I apologize for not updating in a really long time. This chapter is a rewrite and is slightly different from the original. It has been edited for content in order to follow the plot line of the series based on new information introduced in book seven. If you have not read book seven stop reading now. You have been warned.

Chapter 3 A Surprising Proposition

Lily Evans was awoken that next morning just after eight to a tap-tap, tap-tap on her window. She rolled over and saw a brown owl sitting on the windowsill. It looked familiar but Lily couldn't quite place it. She sighed, slightly annoyed at being woken up, but she decided that at least it was after 8 and not earlier.

She walked over to the window, opened it, and held out her arm for the owl to climb on and brought it inside. She perched it on her desk and removed the letter. She was surprised when instead of flying away the owl sat their patiently watching her.

Curious, Lily opened the letter and read it. She read it through three times before finally putting it down to think about it. Was he serious? He certainly sounded as though he was. Sure he usually acted like an arrogant prat, but Marlene always said that he was an excellent Captain, the best since she'd been on the team and she'd been playing since second year, during which time they'd had four captains…and he did seem to have calmed down a bit during sixth year. Plus he did say that he finally realized that he'd been a… what was it… a yes, "an arrogant, bullying, toe rag" so maybe he was serious.

_Dear James,_

_Thank you for the letter and congratulations to you too. You're right we really need to put aside our differences and get along if we're going to work together all year. I must admit I'm was shocked that Dumbledore made you Head Boy but I hope that what you put in your letter to me is the truth. If it is I'm sure that we will be able to work out our differences and work together._

_I think you're right about calling each other by our first names. It would undermine our authority if we don't get along. I know you were not a Prefect so if you have any questions that come up over the summer or once we get back to school please feel free to ask me. I think working together will be easier if we communicate and I would rather you ask me a question that one or both of us might think is stupid than to have us contradicting each other without our realizing it._

_I'll see you in the Head's compartment on September 1__st__ and again if you have any questions feel free to owl me._

_Your fellow head,_

_Lily_

After giving her letter the once over she sent it off with Merlin. She was surprised by the maturity that James had showed in sending his letter. She didn't think he was capable of being mature about anything, except maybe Quidditch practice. Lily looked at the clock. It was only 9:00, which left her with plenty of time to get ready to meet up with Marlene and Katie in Diagon Alley at noon.

Lily and Marlene had been friends since they met on the Hogwarts Express in their first year. Lily had been walking down the train looking for a compartment to join. Lily and Severus had been sitting with James and Sirius but they had acted like total prats and she and Severus had left in search of a different compartment. Marlene had asked if Lily and Severus were first years too and Lily had said yes. Marlene had invited them to sit with her and the rest was history. Lily and Marlene had met Katie after they were all sorted into Gryffindor and had gone up to the dormitories. The three of them had been pretty much inseparable since then.

At noon Lily apparated from her room to the Leaky Cauldron. She only had to wait a few minutes before Marlene and Katie both appeared with a 'pop.'

"Hey guys, how are you," Lily asked.

"We're excellent," Katie stated, "and how are you, Miss Head Girl?" she asked with a grin.

"Pretty good, sure Petunia's boyfriend is coming over for dinner, but getting to see you two makes up for it a little bit," Lily replied with a smile.

"Just a little bit?" Marlene asked pretending Lily's comment had stung. Unfortunately the fact that she was smiling while she said it ruined the effect.

Lily just laughed at them and headed towards the back of the Leaky Cauldron to the alley that lead to Diagon Alley. She tapped the brick wall with her wand and the archway appeared.

"So, where to first?" Katie asked.

"I say we get books last," Marlene said, "that way we don't have to lug them around everywhere."

"I need to go to Gringotts and change some money," Lily told them.

"Gringotts it is then," Marlene said cheerfully. "I need to get some gold out of our vault anyway. Mum gave me the key, along with a death threat if I lose it."

Lily and Katie laughed as the three girls headed over to the wizard bank. After they got their money they headed to the apothecary to replenish Marlene and Lily's potion kits. Katie wasn't taking Newt Potions even though she had gotten an E on her owl. She hated the subject and argued that she wouldn't need it to work in the Magical Law Enforcement Department.

After the apothecary the girls headed over to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. None of the girls needed new school robes but Katie wanted to look for a new pair of dress robes. She was unsuccessful but the girls had fun trying things on.

As they left Madame Malkin's Marlene remembered that she needed to stop by Eeylops Owl Emporium to get some more owl treats for Fred, her owl. Their last required stop was Flourish and Blotts to get the new books they needed for their final year at Hogwarts.

Once they had finished their shopping Marlene had a suggestion, "Let's go get some Ice Cream. There's this new place called Fortescue's or something like that. The ice cream is supposed to be excellent!"

The other two quickly agreed and within ten minutes they were sitting outside eating the best ice cream Lily had ever tasted.

"This ice cream is wonderful, whoever told you about this place was right," Lily exclaimed.

"My brother stopped here the other day and had some," Marlene told them.

"So, Lily," said Katie with a mischievous look in her eyes.

Uh oh, Lily though, there was only one direction this conversation could possibly go.

"Are you going to give James a chance this year and go on a date with him?" Katie asked grinning deviously.

"Ugh, you two are almost as bad as he is," Lily exclaimed in annoyance.

She wasn't angry, just annoyed. This had become a standard question from her friends since some time in fifth year when Potter, no James, she corrected herself, had started asking her out on a regular basis. They did it mostly to torment her, although part of her suspected that they really believed Lily would like him if she went out with him.

Lily looked down at her watch and realized with a jolt that it was 5:05.

"Sorry guys, I know you're just getting warmed up tormenting me, but I was supposed to be home five minutes ago," Lily said quickly gathering her things. She knew her mother wouldn't be angry if she was a few minutes late, but Lily liked to be punctual.

"Don't worry Lily, it's a long ride to Hogwarts, we'll have plenty of time to torment you then," Katie said, grinning deviously. Lily rolled her eyes as they walked over to the apparation spot and she disapparated back to her room. Lily put her bags down and then headed down to the kitchen to see if her mother needed any help.

At exactly 7 o'clock the doorbell rang. Lily's mother was occupied with the evenings roast, Mr. Evans was upstairs changing out of his work suit into "something less officey" as he said, and Petunia was also upstairs getting ready, so Lily got the pleasure of answering the door.

"Good evening, Vernon," Lily said trying to sound as pleasant as possible. "Mum is in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner and Dad and Petunia are upstairs, but they will be down in a minute. Petunia says you can wait in the living room." With that Lily turned and headed back to the kitchen to help her mother set the table while Vernon headed to the living room to wait for Mr. Evans and Petunia to come downstairs.

So far, dinner had gone well in Lily's opinion. At least she and Petunia hadn't started fighting, Lily thought to herself, looking over at her sister.

Suddenly Petunia made a very dramatic display of clearing his throat. Lily looked up curiously, as did Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

"Mother, father, Vernon and I have an announcement to make," Petunia said in a very formal voice. Lily's parents exchanged a glance. "Vernon has asked me to marry him and I have accepted," Petunia said this as if she were reading a notice at a very formal meeting and not at all like she was excited about being engaged. She probably is, Lily reasoned, but its Petunia, getting engaged is what you're supposed to do, she wouldn't act excited about it.

"That's wonderful darling!" her mother exclaimed. Her father nodded in agreement, smiling.

Why were they acting like they were excited, they thought Vernon's as big dolt as Lily did. Maybe marriage would make Petunia less cranky. Did she really just think that, if anything it would make her worse. Wait till Marlene and Katie heard about this.

The rest of the evening was terribly dull as Mrs. Evans and Petunia discussed wedding plans and Lily was very glad when Vernon finally left.


	4. Chapter 4 Secrets and Worries Revealed

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, he belongs to JK Rowling. Only things or people you don't recognize belong to me.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed my story so far! Keep 'em comin'. This is a replacement of the original chapter. It has been edited for grammar and to keep the plot in line with new information gained in book seven. Spoilers abound.

Chapter 4 Secrets and Worries Revealed

The rest of Lily's summer was fairly uneventful and dull until the day before it was time to leave for Hogwarts. Vernon had come over early, though apparently he was only going to be there for a little while to see the beginnings of Petunia and Rose Evans wedding plans and then he would be off to work. Unfortunately for Vernon he stayed five minutes longer than he intended…

Lily was sitting in a chair reading a book for Charms, which she had first charmed so that it looked like an ordinary muggle book to anyone but herself. Vernon was just standing up to leave when a familiar looking brown owl swooped into the Evans' living room. The owl flew over Vernon's head and landed on the arm of Lily's chair. If looks could kill Lily would have been dead; she had never seen Petunia look so angry. Vernon stared at the owl as it held out its leg with the letter, written on parchment, attached to it.

"What on earth is that thing doing?!" Vernon demanded.

Lily just stared at the bird, trying desperately not to laugh. Petunia had forbidden anyone to tell Vernon about Lily's "abnormality" but Lily had the feeling that he was about to find out.

"I told you, you should have told him after you got engaged dear," said Rose calmly.

Petunia turned to Lily, "Why couldn't you just be normal!"

"What is going on?" demanded Vernon for a second time.

Petunia sighed, "I'm sorry, Vernon," said Petunia, "I had hoped I would never have to tell you, my sister is a witch."

Vernon just stared at her stupidly.

"I understand if you want to break our engagement of course, but before you decide I want you to know that I was against it from the start."

"Yes, and she's very vocal about it too," Lily added. "It's why we don't get along, she's always been very outspoken against my being a witch, Petunia doesn't hold with anything unusual."

This, of course, was not entirely true. Lily knew that Petunia's hatred of magic was really rooted to jealousy. In fact, after Lily had been accepted to Hogwarts, Petunia had actually written to Dumbledore himself requesting admittance to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, Petunia had not inherited the same magical powers as Lily and though Dumbledore had turned her down gently Petunia had been bitter and resentful ever since.

"What do you mean a she's a witch?" Vernon asked finally finding his voice.

"Like a witch, like magic and stuff," Lily stated.

"There's no such thing as magic, you're all mad!" Vernon exclaimed.

Petunia looked close to tears. Lily decided that she should probably prove to Vernon that they weren't crazy, or risk giving Petunia yet another reason to hate magic. International Statute of Secrecy be damned. Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand. She had put it there so she could practice the spells in her Charms book after Vernon left without having to go upstairs to get it. She then picked up an empty vase off the table next to her and smashed it.

Vernon stared at her, clearly thinking she was mental.

Lily then took her wand pointed it at the vase and said "Reparo."

Instantly the vase was whole again. Lily picked it up put it back on the table.

Petunia looked scandalized.

"Haven't I told you not to do magic in front of me," she demanded.

Lily shrugged, "Well, I didn't want Vernon to leave you because he though you were mad for claiming that magic was real."

"I really need to get to work," said Vernon suddenly. "I'll see you later then, Petunia, we have dinner reservations at seven."

With that he walked quickly out of the house without a backward glance.

Lily looked at her sister and said cheerfully, "Well at least now you don't have to worry about how to tell him."

With that she grabbed her book and the owl, which she now realized was Merlin, and raced upstairs. She really did feel badly. She hoped that she hadn't messed up Petunia's engagement, although if Vernon left Petunia because Lily was a witch Lily thought that Petunia was probably better off without him. Unfortunately, Lily knew that Petunia wouldn't see it that way.

But there was nothing she could do about it now. So she finally relieved Merlin of his burden and sat down to read it.

_D_ear _Lily,_

_What was Dumbledore thinking making me Head Boy?! Who in their right mind is going to respect my authority? The only person who spends more time in detention than me is Sirius! People are just going to laugh at me when I try to get them to follow the rules!_

Lily couldn't help but chuckle to herself at this part. Although she could understand his fear completely she found it very humorous to envision James Potter worrying about anything.

_Okay, now that I'm a little calmer, it has also occurred to me that I have absolutely no idea what a Head Boy does, other than give detentions and dock points when they catch students breaking the rules. And the only reason I even know that is because every previous Head Boy and Girl has done it to me. Help me please!_

_I apologize for my inevitable failure in advance,_

_James_

Lily couldn't help but smile, either this was a very elaborate joke or James was really concerned that he would be a terrible Head Boy and Lily was inclined to believe the latter, and not just because it would make her life easier.

_Dear James,_

_Relax! Marlene tells me that you are an excellent Quidditch Captain and that you could get that team to follow you to play in a game where the other team was riding Hungarian Horntails instead of brooms. If this is even remotely true I'm sure you'll have no problem getting people to take you seriously as an authority figure as long as you don't abuse your position, which you've already said you don't plan on doing._

_As for what the Heads do. Firstly you are right, we can give detentions and we can also dock points if the situation calls for it. We are also in charge of organizing the Prefects rounds. If one of the Prefects wants to change the time of their round he or she is responsible for finding someone to switch with them and then checking with us to make sure it's ok. We then report the change to McGonagle. We are also in charge of helping to decorate the Great Hall for Halloween and Christmas. We will have to meet with the Prefects at least twice a month to make sure there haven't been any problems on their patrols and to address any concerns they may have. Just like the Prefects we also have to do patrols at night and we're the teachers eyes and ears in the hallways between classes. Unlike the Prefects, however, who change who they patrol with for each rotation we always patrol together, at least that's how its worked in the past. I think we also have to meet weekly with Professor McGonagle and I know that last year Mary said they met with Dumbledore like once a month. Oh, and on the train we're in charge since there aren't any teachers, but we'll have the Prefects to help patrol so we will still be able to enjoy at least part of the ride._

_We each also get our own bathrooms, which I'm told puts the Prefect bathrooms to shame and our own common room, although I thinks that's because the Heads aren't always from the same house so it gives them a place to meet that is more comfortable than an unused classroom. _

_I think that's everything of importance. Don't worry I'm sure you'll be fine. See you tomorrow._

_Your fellow head,_

_Lily_

_P.S. Merlin is the most patient owl I've ever seen, he hasn't complained at all about having to wait for me to reply, even though I'm sure he wants nothing more than to go to sleep._

As Lily watched Merlin flying away she couldn't help but think of James's letter and feel a little nervous about tomorrow herself.


	5. The Last September 1st at 9 and 34

Chapter 5 The Last September 1st at 9 ¾

A/N: This chapter edited for grammar and flow only. Reread if you want.

James woke up at 5:00 a.m. on September 1st. After half an hour gave up trying to sleep. He had packed his trunk the night before and had even managed to force Sirius to pack his.

Sirius couldn't understand why they couldn't just wait until the next morning to finish packing. James, however, wanted to be early so that he could have time to talk to Lily and prepare for their briefing with the Prefects. Sirius told James he was crazy but James simply ignored him. Dumbledore had given him this responsibility and James was going to prove that he deserved it. He took a quick shower and was downstairs at 5:50.

When he walked into the dining room to go to the kitchen he was surprised to see both his parents sitting at the dining room table. His father was eating eggs and sausage while he read the _Daily Prophet_. His mother was enjoying a croissant and tea while flipping absentmindedly through one of her favorite books.

"What are you two doing up so early?" James asked curiously.

"We," said his father without looking up from the paper, "are always up this early. The real question is, what are you doing up this early?"

"Couldn't sleep," James said with a shrug, trying to make it sound as though this were perfectly normal.

"Nervous, huh," his father said, it wasn't a question.

"No, no, not really," James said trying to sound like he meant it.

His father folded his paper and placed it on the table. He looked at James over top of his glasses. He only did this when he was in what James referred to as, "serious mode." James often made fun of his father by imitating it. Despite that fact that James looked much more like his mother, except for his father's extremely messy hair, when he imitated "serious mode" the resemblance between the two was uncanny. However, he reminded himself, his father was in "serious mode" and this was, therefore, not a time for jokes.

"Maybe a little," James confessed. "I mean I'm not worried about it being too much work, I'm up to the challenge, but I've spent my life getting into trouble, who's going to listen to me when I tell them to behave?"

James's father chuckled. "Don't worry son, I'm sure you'll be fine. You've done an excellent job as Quidditch Captain from what Horace Slughorn tells me and seeing as_he's_ head of Slytherin House, your arch rival, that's saying something."

"Yeah, but that's Quidditch, I'm good at Quidditch," James responded giving up trying not to look or sound nervous.

"Yes, but from what I'm told the reason you're such a good Captain is _not_ because you're good at Quidditch but because you are a good leader and that is what will make you a fine Head Boy."

His father said this as if it settled the matter and James didn't respond but instead decided to focus on the eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast Winnie had just placed in front of him.

He stomach was a bit queasy but he knew he'd feel worse if he didn't eat.

At 7:30 James went back up to his room to wake up Sirius. He was still determined to be early and by early he meant to arrive no later than 10:30, something he had never accomplished before. He knew that Sirius would make this difficult, however, and last night had resigned to the fact that he might have to leave without Sirius, even though he knew his friend would not be too pleased with him. He hoped that if he started trying to get him up now that they might actually be able to leave together.

James was happy that at least he would be able to apparate this year, which would mean he could wait for Sirius until 10:20 giving him ample time to refuse to wake up and possibly shower and eat. At 10:20, however, James was forced to bow to the inevitable, he would have to leave without Sirius. His parents told him not to worry that they would make sure Sirius got there with at least ten minutes to spare and that they would accompany him as they wanted to say goodbye to them both and wish them luck. James didn't bother to tell his parents they didn't have to, he knew they'd come anyway, they wanted to see their son off on his last September 1st trip to Hogwarts.

When James arrived on the platform hardly anyone else was there save a few first year students whose parents were clearly nervous about missing the train. He dragged his trunk to the Head's compartment and changed into his robes, pinning his Head Boy Badge to his robes. Just as he was checking to make sure his badge was straight Lily appeared.

"Hi, Lily," James said seeing her reflection in the mirror he was checking his badge in.

"Hi, James, feeling any better?" Lily asked with a smile.

"A bit," James responded.

"Don't worry," Lily said nervously, "we'll be fine."

"Are you trying to reassure me or yourself?" James asked smiling nervously.

"Both."

They both laughed nervously.

"I'll leave so you can change," James said.

Lily was caught off guard by his thoughtfulness but she smiled anyway.

"Thanks," she replied.

"The letter from Dumbledore says we're supposed to keep an eye on the platform, make sure everyone gets on okay, and that the first years get settled, so I'll meet you back on the platform?" James asked.

"Okay, see you in a few minutes, and again, thanks."

"No problem, Lily, just doing my job."

And with that he left the compartment carefully sliding the door shut.

Had she and James really just had a conversation that didn't involve, 'Lily will you go out with me?' ' James for the thousandth time, no I won't' Lily wondered?

Lily changed quickly, she didn't want to leave James to have to deal with the task of making sure the train was loaded in a semi-orderly fashion all by himself. She checked herself in the mirror and then headed out of the compartment.

When she stepped off the train she looked around for James. She saw him talking to a girl who had to be a first year. She looked rather upset and was holding on tightly to her mother. James had bent down and was talking to her. Quietly, Lily moved closer to hear what was going on.

"Don't worry, you'll love Hogwarts. It'll be the best seven years of your life. You can owl your Mum and Dad every day. And trust me they'll keep you so busy it will be Christmas and time to go home before you know it."

"What if everybody hates me, what if I fail the Sorting?!" the little girl said sounding close to tears.

James smiled, "Don't worry, Hogwarts has never failed to sort a student yet. Just remember the trick to wrestling a mountain troll is to remember that while it may be bigger, stronger, and smellier, it's also stupider," James said knowingly.

A look of horror spread over the little girl's face.

"Don't worry," James said chuckling, "you don't really have to wrestle a troll. It's actually a giant."

The little girl giggled.

"Here," said James picking a dandelion and transfiguring it into a rose. The little girl looked at the flower and smiled. She turned to look at her mother.

"Okay," she said, still a little shaky, "I'm ready to get on the train now."

He's going to make an excellent father some day, Lily thought. Then realizing what had just gone through her head she shook it vigorously.

"Lily!"

Lily was snapped out of her thoughts by Marlene's shouts.

"Hi," Lily said smiling.

"How's the Head Girling going?" Katie asked.

"Good so far," Lily replied. "I haven't actually gotten to do anything yet. I changed and just stepped on the platform a couple of minutes before you got here."

"James where are you?" Sirius called as he and the Potters appeared on the platform. He looked around and didn't see James but suddenly Remus and Peter were by his side.

"Hey Wormtail, Moony. How are you guys doing?" Sirius asked smiling.

"I will never understand where you four came up with those nicknames," said Mrs. Potter chuckling. The three boys just grinned at her.

"Where's Prongs?" Remus asked. "You're here and his parents are here, but he's not."

"Yeah," said Peter, "it's usually you who's always cutting it close and it's only 10:40 you're never here this early."

"James has been here since before 10:30," said Sirius shrugging. "He said I was taking too long and he needed to get here, so he left without me."

Remus and Peter just stared at him.

"James is never here before 10:50," said Remus in confusion.

"Didn't he tell you?" Sirius asked confused.

"Tell us what?" asked Peter looking at Sirius like he was crazy.

Suddenly Sirius spotted James heading over towards Lily.

"Come on I'll show you, it'll be easier that way. Come on he's over there heading towards Lily."

"Ah, Lily of course. But why did he come here early just because of her? He doesn't think that showing up more than half and hour early is going to convince her to go out with him does he?" Remus asked a mixture of amusement and exasperation in his voice.

"Hey, Prongs," Peter called.

"Hi, Wormtail, hi, Moony, hi, Padfoot," James called over his shoulder.

The Marauders pulled their trunks quickly to catch up with James.

"Hey, Lily how are things goin' over here?" James asked her.

"Smoothly it seems. What was wrong with that little girl?"

"You mean over there, she was just nervous. I think mostly that she wouldn't get sorted into any of the houses."

"And what did you tell her?"

"That the secret to wrestling a mountain troll is to remember that they're stupid. And then when she looked panicked I told her to relax, she didn't really have to wrestle a mountain troll, it's actually a giant. Then she laughed and I think she felt better," James stated.

Lily already knew this of course, but she didn't want James to know she had been eavesdropping.

During this exchange the Marauders had caught up with James. Lily and James suddenly realized that all their friends were staring at them as if they'd lost their minds.

"Um guys, Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, are you alright?" James asked.

"Dumbledore made you Head Boy?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Remus asked.

"I didn't think you'd believe me," James said with a shrug. "I mean who would make me Head Boy? So I figured I'd just wait until today."

Lily then turned her attention to her friends.

"And what are you two staring at?" Lily asked, slightly amused.

"You two called each other by your first names," Marlene said, as if she still couldn't believe it.

"Oh my God, she's right, you did!" Sirius exclaimed. "This may be the scariest experience of my life," Sirius said while hiding behind Remus in mock terror.

"Shut up, Padfoot," James said. "You guys better go find a compartment before they all fill up and we can't have one to ourselves."

"Are you gonna sit with us?" Peter asked looking at James.

"Of course," James replied. "I just have Head stuff to take care of and as soon as that's settled I'll come join you. This is our last trip after all. See you in the Prefect compartment in a bit, Remus."

"Okay," Remus replied still a bit shocked. He didn't care that James was Head Boy over him. Remus didn't want to be Head Boy. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that _James_ was Head Boy.

"Marlene, Katie, I'll come find you guys as soon as we're done," Lily said.

"Okay, see you in a bit," Marlene said.

On his way to the Head's compartment James stopped to say goodbye to his parents. Once he had said goodbye he went and joined Lily in the Head's compartment

"See," James said, "my own friends don't take my being Head Boy seriously, how can I expect others too?"

Lily smiled, "I think you'll probably have less trouble with other people than your own friends," she informed him. "They're the ones who you're going to have problems with."

"No," James said, "Peter and Remus will be fine, just Sirius will be a problem. He's not gonna be happy when he forces me to put him in detention or dock points from our House."

"What makes you think he'd do that?" Lily asked.

"Because he's Sirius," James stated. "He's like my brother, so despite what I've told him he's going to continue to believe that I'll let him off the hook, until he does something that forces me to prove otherwise."

"So is that what you're really worried about? That Sirius won't respect your authority?"

"No, I'm _worried_ that no one else will respect my authority. I _know_ that Sirius won't respect my authority. At least until I catch him at something and have to apply it. And believe me I will catch him, because he'll think he can get away with it."

"Ah," Lily said, "I see the problem."

"Yeah, well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it right now. What do you say we get ready for this prefect briefing?"

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, and James…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry, you're not the only one who's nervous."

James smiled at Lily and picked up the instructions they had been left for the Prefect briefing.


	6. Chapter 6 The First Test of Authority

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: No major plot changes this chapter either.

Chapter 6 The First Test of Authority

"Okay so now that you all have your assignments you can go enjoy the rest of the ride. Just make sure to patrol the corridors at your designated times and if you have any trouble come find either Lily or myself," James finished.

Everyone started to collect their things and move out of the compartment. Remus waited to see if James was coming with him.

"You coming, James?" he asked.

James looked at Lily, "Is there anything else we need to talk about?"

"No, I think we're done, I'm going to go find the girls."

"Actually," Remus interjected, "we're sharing a compartment with Marlene and Katie. They couldn't find any other open compartments."

"Oh, is it safe to leave Marlene and Sirius in a compartment together?" James asked sounding mildly amused.

"Well, I'm not sure, but Katie and Peter are there to keep an eye on them," Remus said with a chuckle.

"Maybe we should walk more quickly," Lily suggested with a laugh.

James and Remus laughed too. Sirius and Marlene were actually friends, but occasionally one of them would piss off the other and then, well, lets just say it was best to run away.

The three of them entered the compartment to find their four friends laughing at some story Sirius was telling. From what James could tell it involved the time they had turned Snape's hair pink.

"Hi guys," Katie said, trying to stop laughing. "How was the meeting?"

"Fine," Lily said. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Nothing really, just telling stories about the past six years. I can't believe this is our last year," Marlene stated looking slightly nostalgic.

The Witch pushing the food trolley interrupted them and everybody scrambled to get their moneybags.

Lily bought a pile of chocolate frogs, a couple cauldron cakes, and some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

"How can you eat those?" James asked pointing at the Every Flavor Beans with a look of revulsion.

"Because they're so much fun, cause you never know what flavor you're gonna get," Lily said happily. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"It disappeared when I got a vomit flavored one. Most disgusting thing I've ever put in my mouth."

"It couldn't have been that bad?" Lily said laughing slightly.

"Well, no, the actual vomiting that it caused was much worse, especially with the other flavors, like sardine, horseradish, and grass that I'd already eaten," James said sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I wouldn't eat them anymore either," Lily said, looking mildly disgusted.

"Well, you asked," James replied grinning innocently.

"I like the grass flavored ones," Sirius said wistfully.

The others laughed. "You would," Remus chuckled.

In what seemed like a very short time, they were pulling into Hogsmeade Station.

Lily, James, and Remus, who had to help supervise the unloading of the train, left the compartment a few minutes before they arrived to get their things out of the Heads and Prefect compartments.

James and Lily entered the Head's compartment and James looked at Lily.

"Here we go. You ready?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go," she said slightly nervous.

"First years put your trunks over here and they'll be taken up to the dormitories," James called into the crowd.

James smiled when he saw the first year girl he had been talking to on the train pulling her trunk along next to another girl, who also looked like a first year.

"Hello, ladies."

The two girls looked at him and giggled.

"Just put your trunks over here and then go find the really tall man with the shaggy beard. His name is Hagrid. He may look a bit intimidating but you won't find a nicer guy," James said with a smile. The girls giggled again. "He'll be taking you up to the Castle," James explained.

"Thanks," the second girl said giggling again and turning red before the two of them hurried off.

"First years, first years, over here," James suddenly heard Hagrid's booming voice over the crowd.

"Hi, Hagrid," James called waving.

"Hello, James. Have a good summer?"

"Yeah it was great!"

"Couldn' believe it when Dumbledore told me he chose yeh fer Head Boy, congratulations!" Hagrid called grinning. "An' congratulations ter yeh too, Lily."

"Thanks, Hagrid," Lily called appearing suddenly next to James.

Once the rest of the students had started to make their way over to the horseless carriages James and Lily checked that everything was in order and headed over to the carriages themselves.

James and Lily looked around but didn't see any of their friends so they climbed into the carriage at the end of the line and were surprised that no one joined them.

"Well, so far so good," Lily said conversationally.

"Yeah, so far," James replied nervously.

"I never thought I'd see the day that James Potter was nervous about anything," Lily said with a grin, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, well don't go spreading it around," James said slightly more harshly then he meant to.

"You know I wouldn't," Lily said slightly hurt.

"I'm sorry," James said, "I'm just nervous is all."

"It's ok, like I said before, you're not alone."

"So, how was your summer?" James asked hoping to change the subject.

He had never had a pleasant conversation with Lily last this long. They didn't fight exactly, but half the time James opened his mouth to Lily something stupid came out that would annoy her causing her to call him an arrogant prat or something along those lines and end the conversation.

"It was ok."

"Nothing exciting at all?" James asked with a grin.

"Becoming Head Girl, I guess, but nothing else really," Lily said smiling slightly. "Oh and my sister got engaged," Lily added rolling her eyes as she did so.

"Oh, well, that's exciting," James said. "Isn't it…?"

"For her I guess, I wouldn't be excited about being engaged to him, but I suppose he's perfect for Petunia."

"That good, huh?" James asked with a grin.

"I refer to him, unaffectionately, as 'The Whale,'" Lily said grinning.

"Ah," said James, "he can't be that terrible can he?"

"Let's just say he and my sister are a perfect match," Lily replied.

Suddenly the carriage came to a halt. James and Lily looked up to see Hogwarts in front of them. Neither had realized that they were there already.

"Well, we better get going," Lily said. "I'm starving."

With that she hopped out of the carriage with James right behind her.

A/N: Thanks to **piggy369**, **Moonlit Maiden**, and **QueenoftheSidhe**!

Please keep reviewing. I'm trying to make progress on my editing but it's difficult to find the time working two jobs. I promise once I get all my editing done I'll start posting new chapters again. I have not abandoned my story.


	7. Chapter 7 Back at Hogwarts

Chapter 7 Back at Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That privilege belongs to J.K. Rowling, I am merely borrowing her characters for my own, and hopefully your, amusement. JKR is also, of course, responsible for Lily calling James "an arrogant, bullying, toe rag." It's a great line, and alas it is hers.

They walked up the front steps and into the entrance hall. As Lily walked into the castle she felt the sense that she was coming home wash over her. She loved her family but she had missed Hogwarts terribly over the summer.

She walked into the Great Hall and looked up at the ceiling. She could see the stars shining in the night sky outside. Lily knew it was really only bewitched to look like the outside, but it was still hard to believe when you were actually looking at it.

Lily headed over to the Gryffindor table and saw Marlene and Katie sitting with their fellow seventh year Gryffindors Mary and Abby. The five girls got on very well and were good friends, although Lily felt closest to Marlene and Katie.

James spotted Sirius, Remus, and Peter sitting a little farther down the table and went to join them.

"So," Sirius asked with and evil grin as James sat down, "what's going on with you and Evans or should I say _Lily_?"

"There's nothing going on Sirius. We just agreed that if we're going to be Head Boy and Girl that perhaps we should try and get along. And we figure calling each other by our first names is part of 'getting along,'" James replied rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but it's weird. I can't remember the last time you referred to each other by your first names," Sirius said, trying to remember if they ever had. "I mean I always thought she hated you."

"She's never hated him," Remus said.

"Then why does she insult him and call him a, what is it…oh yeah, 'an arrogant, bullying, toe rag' all the time," Sirius asked indignantly.

"Because I deserved it," James replied fairly. "Although I don't see how that proves that she never hated me…" he added looking at Remus for an explanation.

"It was just how you acted that she hated, not you," Remus explained.

Just then McGonagall came out with the three-legged stool and the Sorting Hat. She placed the hat on the stool and the school fell quiet. As had become it's habit over the past several years the Sorting Hats song once again emphasized the need for the four Houses to stand together, to unite. James thought it was a nice sentiment but found it hard to imagine getting along with the Slytherins. Sure they weren't all evil, Ol' Sluggy was a Slytherin and he was a bit, well, but he wasn't evil. James was brought out of his thoughts as McGonagall called out the first name, Arnte, Robert who became a Gryffindor. James clapped and cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindors as Arnte, Robert made his way over to the Gryffindor table looking happy and somewhat relieved.

Finally Willfred, Margaret, the girl from the platform was sorted into Hufflepuff and Professor McGonagall took the sorting hat away.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and the noise that was beginning to rise now that the Sorting was over died away.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. I know you are all eager for the feast to begin but before that, I have a few start of term announcements. First, I would like to inform our first year students and remind some of our older ones that the Forbidden Forest is not just a name, and that students are not allowed to enter it. Mr. Filch has also asked me to remind you that magic is forbidden in the corridors between classes. I think that is everything of importance so let's tuck in."

With that food appeared on the four house tables.

"Finally," Sirius said, "I'm so hungry I could eat a hippogriff." With that pronouncement he proceeded to piled food onto his plate.

"So, Lily," Katie began, "what's going on with you and James? You two seemed awfully friendly today. I mean you called him by his first name!"

"Well he wrote me over the summer after finding out we were going to be working together and suggested that we try to get along. And I figure that since we have to work together we might as well be friendly. So I agreed and we also decided to call each other by our first names. We thought we would undermine our own authority calling each other Potter and Evans," Lily stated.

"Wait a minute," said Marlene, "You _knew_ that James was going to be Head Boy before you got here and you didn't tell us?!"

"You do like him," Katie grinned at Lily.

"No, I don't," Lily insisted rolling her eyes, "I just didn't want to listen to you to badger me for the rest of the summer."

"Did you know it was James when we went to Diagon Alley?" Katie asked.

"Yup, and I thought about telling you but decided not to for the sake of my sanity."

"You so like him," Katie said again still grinning at Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her steak and kidney pie. "Whatever," she grumbled.

Katie was wrong. She did not like James. She certainly didn't hate him and he did seem to have matured over the summer and she thought he might have grown taller and he was so sweet to that little girl who was nervous…ok she needed to stop that. She mustn't forget that he'd also spent the last year or two asking her out incessantly and messing up his hair just to make himself look cool.

A sharp poke roused Lily from her thoughts.

"Huh?" she said looking around confused.

"Could you pass me the chicken, I've only asked you like five times," Katie informed her chuckling.

"Oh yeah sure," Lily said, passing the chicken to Katie and still looking slightly confused.

She didn't like James, she couldn't. She'd spent the last six years not liking him, why would she start now?

Finally dinner and dessert were finished and all the plates and goblets became sparkling clean once more. Dumbledore stood up once more.

"Now that you have all had your fill it is getting late and I know you want to be refreshed for your classes tomorrow so off to bed, chop chop," said Dumbledore smiling.

James headed down the Gryffindor table towards Lily. Lily looked up and saw him.

"You coming, Lily?" Katie asked.

"You guys go ahead. I have a meeting with Dumbledore. I'll be up in a bit," Lily replied.

"Ok, see you in a bit, then," Marlene said as she and Katie headed towards the queue forming by the door.

"Did you enjoy the feast?" James asked coming up beside Lily.

"Yeah, it was delicious, you?"

"Excellent as always," James said smiling. "I think Dumbledore wants us to go meet him at the teachers' table," James said indicating Dumbledore, who was watching them smiling.

Lily nodded in agreement and she and James headed towards Dumbledore.

"Hello, James, Lily, I trust the train ride was uneventful," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes, sir. It was fine," James said.

"Good, good. Well if you'll follow me please we'll move this meeting to my office."

Lily and James followed Dumbledore down the hall. Lily was feeling distinctly nervous. She had only spoken to Dumbledore on a few brief occasions before during a couple of Prefect meetings he had attended the previous year but that had simply been to say hello and to tell him that she had had no problems outside of a few students in broom closets.

They reached a large Griffin standing in an alcove.

"Acid Pop," said Dumbledore. The griffin moved to reveal a spiral staircase revolving slowly upwards like an escalator.

Lily had to hold in a gasp as they entered the Headmaster's Office. The walls were lined with bookshelves and all around the room there were stools with spindly silver instruments on them. Sitting on a perch behind Dumbledore's desk was the most beautiful bird Lily had ever seen.

"Is…is that a phoenix?" Lily asked unable to keep her amazement out of her voice.

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, this is Fawkes."

"He's beautiful," Lily said with more than a hint of awe in her voice.

Lily noticed that James though clearly impressed did not seem as in awe of the office as she was. Well, he's probably been in here before, she reasoned with herself. With all the trouble he and his friends get in.

"Please sit down," Dumbledore requested pointing to two chairs in front of his desk. Lily and James sat down and looked expectantly at Dumbledore.

"Now, first let me congratulate you both once again on becoming Head Boy and Girl."

"Thank you, sir" they both replied.

"You're both welcome. Now I chose you because I feel you both hold qualities that will make you excellent Heads and that you _can_ work well together," Dumbledore put extra emphasis on this last part. "I know that the two of you haven't always seen eye to eye, but I feel you are the best people for the job. You are top students and excellent leaders. I know that you will both perform admirably."

"Yes, sir, we will," James said making it clear that he meant it.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Your duties as you know will include organizing the Prefects patrol schedules, in addition to patrolling together." He paused and Lily and James nodded. "Now in addition to the regular duties I have decided that, with everything that's been going on outside our walls, the students could use a moral booster this year. So I have decided that instead of the usual Halloween feast this year we will have a Halloween Ball, seeing as Halloween is on a Saturday this year. I would like you to help Professor McGonagall and I come up with ideas for things such as music and refreshments as you have a much better idea about what the students would want."

Both Lily and James nodded again. "Well I think that is everything of importance. Oh, wait I forgot. On the third floor behind the portrait of the wizard with the funny striped beard is the Head's Common Room that you may use for meetings and such, the password is phoenix. Also, Mr. Potter I would like a word with you before you return to your dormitory," Dumbledore said.

"Um, ok," James said sounding slightly nervous.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" Lily asked quietly, much to James surprise.

James shrugged, "You don't have to if you don't want to, I'm sure you must be tired."

Lily nodded and headed out the door.

Dumbledore turned back to James looking very serious, though not unfriendly. "Do you have anything you'd like to ask me?" Dumbledore asked him knowingly.

James didn't have time to fathom how Dumbledore knew this before he found the question coming out, "Why did you make me Head Boy? It's not that I don't want…I'm honored...It's just…"

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Are you going to abuse your position or are you going to try and do the best job you possibly can?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

"I would never abuse my position," James responded slightly indignant. "Sorry, Sir, I didn't mean to be rude," he added realizing that his response hadn't sounded very polite.

Much to James's surprise Dumbledore smiled.

"What's so funny?" he asked confused and also slightly annoyed.

"Well, you've just answered your own question," Dumbledore smiled, "I knew that given some responsibility that you would rise to the challenge and I know that you will perform your duties as Head Boy admirably."

"Well, if you knew I would rise to the challenge why didn't you make me a Prefect?" James asked slightly confused.

Clearly Dumbledore knew that if he made James Head Boy that James would "straighten up" a bit, so why not make him a Prefect. Not that he would want to have taken the privilege away from Remus.

"If I had made you a Prefect in your fifth year would you have risen to the occasion, like your are now?" Dumbledore asked looking at James with the same piercing stare he used after the "Snape Incident" that made James feel like Dumbledore was looking right through him.

James thought about this for a moment.

"No, I wouldn't have," James replied honestly. "I would have used my position for my own personal gain and to keep people I didn't like as miserable as possible."

Dumbledore nodded.

"You have grown up quite a lot since then. You should be very proud of yourself," said Dumbledore smiling.

"Thank you sir," James replied sheepishly trying unsuccessfully not to blush.

"I'm sure you will do admirably. Now it is getting late and I'm sure you and Miss Evans want to be well rested for classes tomorrow, so off you go."

James nodded feeling slightly confused. Lily was probably already back in the dormitories getting ready for bed, he thought. It was therefore quite a shock when he opened the door to Dumbledore's office to see Lily sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for him.

"You didn't have to wait for me," James said, unable to hide a slight hint of happiness that she had done so none the less. "You must be tired and I know you want to be well rested for classes tomorrow."

Lily smiled at him, "I figured it would be nice of me to wait for you," she replied simply.

Stunned all James could think of to say was, "Thanks."

"Your welcome. Now let's get going, I'm exhausted.

**A/N**: Yes, I know that school dance is a L/J cliché, as is the heads common room. However, I think a dance is perfectly acceptable as long as it is acknowledged that it is unusual and not treated as a normal event. Also, while I see a Head's dormitory as far fetched I think it's perfectly reasonable that there could be a Head's Common Room because often times the Head's are from different houses.


	8. Chapter 8 The Year Really Starts

Chapter 8 The Year Really Starts

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.

Lily woke up the next morning at 7 a.m. to the ringing of her alarm clock. She sighed and rolled over tapping the clock with her wand to silence it.

Yawning deeply and stretching she dragged herself out of bed. Although during school Lily could usually be called a morning person for the first couple of days back she always thought longingly of the summer when she was able to wake up when she was ready and not when her alarm clock told her she had to do so.

By the time Lily had showered and dressed Marlene and Katie had also woken up and Lily was currently waiting for Marlene to finish her makeup and Katie to decide whether she wanted to wear her hair up or down. Finally the other two girls were ready and the three of them headed down to breakfast.

"I wonder what class I'll have first," Katie wondered aloud.

"Maybe we'll have a free period first," Marlene said hopefully. "Then we could sleep in on Mondays."

"Yeah right," replied Lily. "If this year is anything like last year we'll need that free period to get our huge mountains of homework done."

"Spoil sport," Marlene muttered. Though Lily was probably right.

The girls entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Lily suddenly realizing how hungry she was selected the nearest dish of scrambled eggs and began spooning some onto her plate. Just as Lily was beginning to contemplate the toast hundreds of owls came swooping in through the windows. One of them landed in front of Marlene, a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ held firmly in his beak. Marlene took the paper and looked at the front page.

"Well looks like You-know-who is still keeping quiet," she said. "Wonder how long that will last?"

Lily and Katie nodded in agreement. You-know-who, or Lord Voldemort, as most people were afraid to call him, had been rising steadily in power over the past seven years and had recently started to show just how far he was willing to go to gain power. Unfortunately the Ministry of Magic was only now starting to acknowledge how big a threat he really was.

"Good morning ladies," Sirius said, interrupting Lily's thoughts, as he and the other Marauders arrived at the Gryffindor table. "Are we all well rested and ready for classes to begin?" Sirius asked grinning roguishly.

Katie yawned in response making the seven of them laugh.

"That's the kind of enthusiasm I like to see," Sirius said, making everyone laugh again.

Lily could hardly believe that she was laughing at something Sirius Black had said. What was going on with her? At the end of last year she would have told Sirius to shut up and go away. Although admittedly that would have mostly been because with Black came Potter and his constantly asking her out, which he had surprisingly enough refrained from so far. Admittedly they hadn't been at Hogwarts 24 hours yet, so there was still plenty of time.

The Marauders sat down with the girls and began filling their plates with food just as McGonagall appeared with their timetables.

"Good morning Professor, I trust you had a delightful summer?" Sirius asked grinning charmingly.

"Good morning, Mr. Black," replied Professor McGonagall ignoring Sirius's question. "I have your timetables, I trust you're all prepared to work hard this year in preparation for your NEWTS?" she asked in that tone of hers that informed you she was not a teacher to mess with.

"We were born ready," Sirius replied cheekily, still grinning. "If they're anything like OWL's they'll be a piece of cake," Sirius informed her arrogantly.

Professor McGonagall just shook her head and handed them their timetables.

"Sirius, are you sure your mother didn't drop you on your head as a child?" Katie asked.

"I wouldn't put it past her," Sirius replied in a surprisingly bitter and angry tone.

A slightly awkward silence fell over the group, which they filled by focusing on their breakfasts.

"Alright, I'm off to Potions," Lily said about fifteen minutes later.

"Ah, good ol' Sluggy," Sirius replied with a grin. "I'm sure he's missed you terribly over the summer, Lily," Sirius laughed.

Lily rolled her eyes and headed out of the Great Hall. She had to run back to her room and get her books before heading off to the dungeons.

Lily smiled as she walked down the halls back to the Gryffindor Common Room. She really had missed Hogwarts terribly over the summer. Before she knew it she had arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password."

"Biting Geranium," Lily replied.

Lily climbed through the entrance on the other side of the portrait and went up to her dormitory to grab her books. When she came back down she almost ran into James who had just come out of the boy's dormitory with his things.

"How did you get here so fast?" she asked. He hadn't been behind her when she walked back, she was sure of it.

"I took a shortcut," he replied with a shrug.

"Oh."

"Do you mind if I walk to Potions with you?" he asked with a slight hint of, was that nervousness she detected? No, couldn't be.

As much to Lily's surprise as James's Lily found herself saying. "Sure."

James smiled and let her climb out of the portrait hole ahead of him.

"So, excited to be back?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, I love my parents, but it's not the same at home," she replied. "I miss magic. At least now that I'm seventeen I can do it at home, without getting an official warning from the Ministry, but its still not the same."

James nodded. He couldn't imagine going home for the summer and having to live completely without magic. Even when he hadn't been old enough to perform it himself his house was still full of it.

"Without getting an official warning from the Ministry?" James asked suddenly curious.

"It was just that one time," Lily said sheepishly. "I didn't even mean to do it, but Petunia made me so mad! And it really was funny to see Petunia literally struck dumb," Lily grinned at the memory.

"Well, well," said James smiling, "Little Miss follow the rules isn't as perfect as I though."

"You are not allowed to repeat that story to anyone," Lily said suddenly slightly panicked.

"How old were you?" James asked unable to hide his curiosity.

"Fifteen," Lily replied blushing.

"Isn't fifteen a little old to be performing accidental magic, especially for someone as talented as yourself?" James asked teasingly.

"I never said I performed accidental magic," Lily said grinning.

"But you said you 'didn't even mean to do it,'" James said now thoroughly confused.

"Well, I didn't, but it wasn't accidental magic, I was holding my wand at the time, and it just sort of happened," Lily said blushing, but at the same time trying rather unsuccessfully to suppress a grin. "I'd never performed non-verbal magic before, I didn't think anything would actually happen."

James couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing. This broke Lily's resolve and she started to laugh too. James couldn't believe his luck. He was having a conversation with Lily Evans. A real conversation, in which there was no fighting. In fact he'd say they were getting along. And she seemed to be enjoying talking to him as much as he enjoyed talking to her.

"I can't believe I just told you that," said Lily still chuckling slightly. "Seriously though, you can't repeat that to anyone."

"I won't, I promise," James told her. "So what happened anyway? After you silenced her I mean."

"Well, she freaked out and went running to Mum. Honestly, seventeen years old and she still goes running to Mummy to tell on me," Lily said shaking her head. "Well, needless to say, Mum wasn't too pleased with either of us. One advantage of Petunia not being able to speak was that I was at least able to explain my side without interruption. Mum wasn't too pleased with what I said Petunia said to make me do it, but she still wasn't very happy about me putting 'silencio' on my sister," Lily grinned.

"Of course she then made me take the spell off. No sooner had I done it then the inevitable Ministry letter showed up. Well, Mum wasn't too pleased and grounded me for a week. But Petunia got two weeks. She told Petunia that while I may not have made the best choice that she couldn't blame me for wanting to make my sister stop insulting me. 'We are family and family doesn't say things like that to each other,' she told Petunia," Lily explained.

"What did she say to you to make you break the Reasonable Restriction for Underage Wizardry and the International Statute of Secrecy?" James asked incredulously.

"Well, first off, as I pointed out to Madame Bones when I had to meet with her, I wasn't technically breaking the Statute of Secrecy as my sister is fully aware of the fact that I'm a witch…"

"You had to go see Madame Bones?" James asked astonished.

"Yes, since I'd performed magic on a Muggle" said Lily rolling her eyes, "bit stupid really. Even Madame Bones agreed, although she didn't say it. I mean she just let me off with a warning."

"But seriously, what did she say?" James couldn't possibly understand what would make Lily do something that could risk her getting expelled. Mind he had trouble envisioning Lily breaking any major rules in general, but something like that. Unfortunately they had entered the Potions corridor and other people were also making their way towards the room.

"Let's get to class," Lily said, almost evasively and led the way to class.

James sighed. He was happy to be working with Lily but it was very stressful at the same time. He was determined to show her that he was a good person this year. But he knew that meant laying off on asking her out for a while and not acting like a complete fool in front of her. This may sound easy enough in theory, but he found that being in her presence made it difficult to think straight.

He entered the classroom right behind her, resisting the urge to hold the door. Despite the fact that his father always told him it was the gentlemanly thing to do, it always seemed to bother Lily in the past, resulting in comments like, 'I can do it myself' or 'I don't need your help.' He looked around the room and was not surprised to see that Sirius hadn't arrived yet so he sat down at the table right behind Lily's and put his bag on the chair next to his to save him a seat.

Predictably Sirius rushed in the door seconds behind Professor Slughorn.

"Good morning everyone," Slughorn greet them jovially. "I trust you all had good summers and are ready to work hard this year. As you know you will be sitting your NEWTS in June and all of you will do well if you simply apply yourselves. Remember these tests are very important especially if you want to go into the Ministry or work at places like St. Mungo's. Today we will begin by brewing a lovely potion to cure more stubborn bouts of the flu. The instructions are in your books, you may begin."

There was a lot of shuffling as the students opened their books to the proper page and began gathering the ingredients they would need to brew their potions. Thankfully it was a double period because the potion they were brewing was rather finicky.

James found Potions to be rather dull. He wouldn't have taken the class if it weren't for the fact that he simply didn't know what he wanted to do after graduation and didn't want to realize when he finally figured it out that he needed Potions to do it. Not only was Potions dull, but Potions class also contained one Severus Snape, or as James and his friends called him Snivellous or Snivelly. James was glad that this potion was so complicated as it helped him to completely ignore Snape's presence. As the end of class was approaching Slughorn began making one final lap around the room to inspect everyone's potions. He stopped at Lily's and smiled.

"Well, Miss Evans, I must say this is a fabulous looking Potion, exactly the correct shade of blue. I still say you should have been in my House," Slughorn said as if he still couldn't believe that the Sorting Hat had put her in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin.

"Well, I don't think Salazar would agree with you on that one," Lily quipped.

James still couldn't understand how Lily could joke about things like this. Of course he realized that Slughorn was completely serious about wishing Lily was in Slytherin, Slughorn was Slytherin's Head of House, but he couldn't understand how Lily could be so calm about it. She was entirely correct, Salazar Slytherin would have completely disagreed with Slughorn. The reason Salazar had left was because he didn't want Hogwarts to accept Muggle-born witches and wizards. He just didn't understand how Lily could make a joke about it in response to Slughorn's comments about wanting Lily in his house. It made sense, though, in James mind why Slughorn would want her in his house even though Salazar wouldn't have, Lily was exactly the type of person Slughorn liked to collect and it must drive him mad that she had been sorted into Gryffindor.

"Nonsense," Slughorn replied, "with talent like yours, of course he would."

At that point the bell rang signaling the end of the period.

"Please put a sample of your potions in a flask with your name on it and leave it on my desk for grading," Slughorn announced as the class hurriedly cleaned up.

**A/N:** So I'm sure you're all happy this update came so fast but I feel I should warn you about the imminent future. I plan on updating at least once more within the next four days or so, but after that it will be a couple of weeks. My family is taking a very long and expensive plane ride to come visit and it is the first time I will have seen anyone from home in six months and will probably be the only time I see anyone from home for another six so updating will probably not be occurring. But don't worry, once they're gone I'll update lots. I'm several chapters ahead of what I have posted. I know you want me to post it all, but then you'd get an update about once a month instead of once or twice a week. Merry Christmas!


	9. Chapter 9 First Assertion of Authority

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter JK Rowling does. I also do not own The Weird Sisters. I'm not actually sure who owns the name The Weird Sisters. Though according to the Canadian legal system it is not the actual band called The Weird Sisters, so I guess they belong to JKR? (Shrugs.) I have no money for you to take, please don't sue.

A/N: Definitely changed/added some stuff in this chapter.

Chapter 9 An Assertion of Authority

Lily yawned and stretched as she woke up smiling and happy that it was Saturday. Sure she had a pile of homework she had yet to finish, but if she was diligent she could finish it all before dinner and enjoy the remainder of her weekend homework free. As much as she hated the idea of homework she found the idea of doing it all today and having none tomorrow highly motivating. As she didn't feel this motivated to finish all her homework in one day very often she decided to go with it.

She got up quietly so as not to wake her friends, showered, dressed, grabbed her homework, and headed down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast before heading to the Library.

After two hours in the Library Lily had made good progress. She had already completed her Ancient Runes translation, answered Professor Sprouts questions on the proper care of Poisonous Tentacles, and was now putting the finishing touches on her essay on the correct way to brew the Amortentia Potion. She was glad she had started this essay during her free period yesterday, as it would mean that she would definitely be finished with her homework before dinner.

Although Lily agreed with Slughorn that the Amortentia Potion was rather dangerous, she was hoping that at the very least he would brew some for the class to see, she was very curious about what it would smell like to her.

Lily looked out the window and saw that the clouds that had been there when she woke up had disappeared and the sun was now shining invitingly. Lily decided that after lunch she would take her remaining homework outside. If she were diligent in the hour and a half until lunch she would be almost done.

She put the finishing touches on her Potions essay and started in on her DADA essay. A foot and a half on essay on the Patronus charm. She couldn't wait to begin trying to cast that spell. The new DADA teacher, Professor Franklin, had shown them what it looked like in their last class before setting the essay and she was quite keen to try it out, even if he said it would be one of the most difficult spells they learned in their time at Hogwarts.

Lily was surprise to find that, as the clock in the Library began to chime announcing that it was now twelve o'clock, that her DADA essay was almost complete. Lily quickly put the finishing touches on her essay and reread it to make sure she hadn't missed anything important. Satisfied with what she had written she put her homework into her bag and headed towards the Great Hall for lunch, hoping that her friends would also be there.

When Lily arrived in the Great Hall she found Marlene and Katie sitting with James and his friends. It still seemed a bit odd to call him 'James' and not 'Potter' though it was nice to be getting along with him instead of being constantly annoyed with him.

In the past, it would have annoyed her to no end that Marlene and Katie were sitting with the Marauders, but today she didn't seem to mind. She and James had been getting along surprisingly well during the past week. James hadn't gone out of his way to bother her like he usually did and he still hadn't even hinted at asking her out, perhaps he was trying to lull her into a false sense of security. But that didn't make sense, he honestly seemed to have matured over the summer. Lily found this new and improved James model to be quite tolerable.

"Hey guys," she said as she sat down and started ladling beef stew onto her plate. It was amazing how hungry studying hard all morning could make a person.

"Hey, Lily," they answered.

"Where've you been all morning?" Katie asked.

"Library," Lily answered, now reaching for a roll. "I felt inspired this morning to get all my homework done today, so I went with it," she said with a shrug. "I've just got the essay for McGonagall left."

"Wow," said Marlene clearly stunned. Lily was usually fairly on top of her homework, but it was rare even for Lily to spend her _entire_ Saturday doing homework. "I feel bad I slept in now."

Lily laughed, "Yeah, sure."

"Your right, I don't, but I do wish I was almost done with my homework," Marlene said grinning.

Lily shrugged again, "Yeah, but that Transfiguration essay will take me all afternoon. I still don't entirely understand what McGonagall is talking about," Lily countered mildly annoyed with herself.

"I could help you if you wanted," James offered.

"That's okay, I can do it by myself," Lily said, snapping a little more than she meant to.

Sure she was having trouble understanding the material and James was the best Transfiguration student in the year but she wasn't going to let James help her and listen to him gloat about it the whole time.

"Okay, but if you change your mind come find me," James replied.

Lily was surprised how easily he let it go. She figured she would have to argue with him about it for at least a couple of minutes before he let it drop. She wasn't sure what to make of this "new and improved James," it was slightly unnerving.

Just then Professor McGonagall approached the table.

"I didn't do it, I swear," Sirius said as he saw her heading towards them.

Professor McGonagall chose to ignore him, "Mr. Potter, Miss Evans I would like to see you both in my office when you've finished your lunch."

James and Lily eyed her nervously. Professor McGonagall smiled, " Don't worry, I just want to discuss any ideas you may have for Halloween. I'm sorry to cut into your Saturday but I'm quite busy at the moment and this is the only opportunity I have." They both nodded.

"I shall see you shortly then," she said and headed out of the Great Hall.

"I hope the meeting doesn't last too long," James said conversationally, I'd at least like to start my homework today."

"James Potter, do homework, I'm so confused," said Katie trying and failing to keep from laughing.

"Well I am Head Boy, gotta set a good example and all," he replied with a grin.

"Don't let him fool you," Remus said, "he's always done his homework. He just does it in the dormitory where nobody can see him, along with Sirius. Can't have people actually thinking they do work, now can we."

"Shhhh, don't tell people our secrets," Sirius stage whispered, looking shocked and betrayed.

Lily couldn't help but chuckle at them. "Well, I'm done. You ready James?"

"Yup," he replied, mopping up the last of his stew with a roll and stuffing the whole thing in his mouth.

"That's disgusting!" Katie exclaimed.

James attempted to smile at her but his mouth was too full.

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"So, got any ideas for this dance thing," James asked several minutes later as they walked down the hall, finally having managed to swallow the rest of his roll.

Lily shrugged, "Food, music, dancing."

"Sounds thrilling," James said rolling his eyes. "They'll be talking about it for years. Aren't girls supposed to get all giggly about this sort of thing?"

"I can't stand girls that are constantly giggly," said Lily.

"Oh, good," said James chuckling. "They drive me mad as well."

"What about your fan club?" Lily asked half-joking half-serious. He really did have one after all.

"Eh," James replied, "they're nice girls, but I can't exactly see settling down with one of them."

"James Potter, dating king of Hogwarts, talking about settling down?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Well my parents were busy with their careers and started the family thing kinda late, even by wizarding standards," James said. "So I'm an only child, but I've always thought it would be fun to have brothers and sisters. So I decided I'd like to have at least three kids." He said all this as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lily was still looking at him skeptically.

"What? I'm completely serious," James stated. "My mother says I lack ambition, because I don't really want some high level position in the Ministry, but I just don't want my career to consume my life. I'd like to have time for a family too."

Lily had to admit she was quite shocked. James Potter was admitting to her that his secret ambition in life was to be a family man. Perhaps this was just some clever ruse to get her to go out with him. Though even she had to admit, the idea that he would come up with a story this elaborate just to get her to go out with him seemed a bit ridiculous.

Unfortunately Lily's thoughts were interrupted by their arrival at McGonagall's office. James knocked on the door and they heard McGonagle reply, "Enter."

"Good afternoon, Professor," James said as they entered.

"Yes, good afternoon," Lily repeated.

"Good afternoon, both of you," McGonagall replied. "Let me apologize again for taking time out of your Saturday, but as I said before, this was the only time I could meet with you."

"That's okay, we understand Professor," James responded pleasantly.

"Now about this dance," McGonagall said more business like. "Professor Dumbledore and I have already agreed that it will be open to fourth years and above, although if a student wishes they will be allowed to bring a younger student as their partner."

James and Lily simply nodded.

"We will have a feast for the younger students before the ball from five to seven. The actual ball will start at 8. This will give us time to set up any last minute decorations after the feast for the younger students."

Again James and Lily simply nodded.

"The ball will include dinner for the older students so they will not have to worry about attending the feast and trying to get ready in time for the ball."

"What will the dress be for the ball?" James asked.

"Professor Dumbledore and I were thinking dress robes, but we thought we'd ask your opinion before deciding on that."

"I think that sounds like a good idea," Lily said. "I know most of the girls will enjoy an excuse to get all dressed up," Lily said smiling happily.

"I thought you hated it when girls got all excited about dances?" James asked grinning.

"No, I said I can't stand girls that are constantly giggling. Sometimes a girl likes an excuse to look pretty," Lily said smiling happily.

Professor McGonagall smiled at them, "And what do you think James?"

"Dress robes sound fine, I doubt the guys will care. And it is always fun to see girls all dressed up," he said, getting a slightly far away look in his eye like he was envisioning all the girls of Hogwarts all dressed up.

Both Lily _and_ Professor McGonagall rolled their eyes at him. He just smiled back at them.

"Now," McGonagall said once again business like, "Professor Dumbledore and I thought it would be best to speak to you in regards to choosing the music as you will be much more aware of what the students will like."

"Well, there is this new band, The Weird Sisters, that are becoming fairly popular. Their repertoire isn't huge yet, but they have some really great songs and I know they do some pretty decent covers of some other popular songs. Plus they're still knew so they'll be cheaper than like say the 'Mad Muggles.'"

"Lily, do you have any suggestions?" McGonagall asked. Lily wasn't that familiar with Wizard musicians, but she had heard of the group the Weird Sisters from Marlene and Katie, both of whom loved their music. They had actually been playing their new record the other night and Lily had to admit that it was pretty good.

"Um, The Weird Sisters would be fine with me. I've only heard a couple of their songs, but they were all pretty good."

"Well, Professor Dumbledore and I will see what we can do," said Professor McGonagall.

"If you have any trouble getting them you should talk to Slughorn," James said. "Their lead singer was in Slug Club a few years back."

Professor McGonagall smiled at this, "Well, The Weird Sisters it is then." All three of them laughed.

"Now, as far as food goes, Professor Dumbledore and I were thinking that we would leave it largely up to the house elves to come up with snacks and the dinner menu. And for drinks we'd have things like Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice."

Again James and Lily simply nodded.

"When will the ball end?" James asked.

"Midnight," McGonagall replied. Professor Dumbledore and I felt that four hours should be sufficient.

James and Lily agreed and with that their meeting came to an end.

"So, where are you off to?" James asked.

"Well, it's such a nice day I thought I'd head outside and write my last essay down by the lake. I figure the weather won't stay this way much longer so I should enjoy it while it lasts, regardless of how much homework I have."

James nodded. "Do you mind if I join you?" he asked hesitantly.

He really was kind of cute when he was unsure of himself. I did _not_ just think that, Lily admonished herself.

"I promise not to bug you," he added quickly. "I really would like to make a dent in my homework today. I don't want to get behind before the Quidditch season even starts."

Lily rolled her eyes, but more jokingly than because she was annoyed. "Oh, I suppose. As long as you don't bug me, I really need to concentrate on my Transfiguration Essay."

"My offer to help still stands if you want it," James said sincerely.

"No," Lily said quickly. "Thank you," she added as an afterthought.

"Okay," James replied with a shrug.

James and Lily walked out the front doors and headed down the hill towards the lake. Suddenly they heard shouting coming from the direction of the lake. Looking up they saw a large circle of students and in the middle were Sirius and Snape.

James sighed. He knew it would happen eventually, he had just hoped that it would be something along the lines of him catching Sirius in a broom closet on his after hours patrol, not in front of half the school. Standing up a little straighter and stealing himself for what he was about to do, James quickened his pace with Lily on his heals.

As they neared the crowd Remus came up to him and Lily.

"Who started it?" James asked him.

"Sirius," Remus said in a resigned voice. "Snape was just walking by and well, you know the rest."

James nodded and looked at Lily. "Please let me handle this. I know you're capable and all, but this is something I have to deal with myself."

"I'll be here if you need back up," she said, understanding his need to handle this on his own.

James started making his way through the crowd. People moved out of his way and he heard the occasional whisper of, "Ooo Potter's here, now Snape is really gonna get it."

James walked into the middle of the circle with Sirius and Snape just as Sirius suspended Snape upside down by his ankle. James took a deep breath to prepare himself.

"Sirius, what are you doing?" he asked trying to sound as authoritative as possible.

"Hey Prongs. You're a little late, I've almost won already," Sirius said grinning arrogantly.

"Why are you fighting with him?" James asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Well, I was a bit bored you see and then he walked by with hair even greasier than normal looking all shiftily and I felt that it was time somebody, once again, tried to explain to him about bathing," Sirius grinned cheekily as he finished.

"Put him down, Sirius," James said his annoyance with his friend now coming through.

"Huh?" replied Sirius.

"You heard me put him down."

"Prongs mate, what has come over you, this is Snivellous we're talking about!"

"Put him down or it's detention Sirius."

"Yeah, sure Prongs."

"Alright," James said, completely serious, "I'll tell McGonagall to expect you every night next week starting on Monday."

"Uh-hu Prongs, whatever you say mate," Sirius said casually, still grinning like a fool.

"Alright, Sirius I really hoped it wouldn't come to this but you leave me no choice," James said this in an authoritative tone, but their was also a hint of disappointment in his voice as well.

Sirius looked at him curiously, but still smiling. "Finally decided to join me have you?"

"No," James deadpanned. "Twenty points from Gryffindor. Now put him down before I make it more."

The entire crowd fell silent. Had James seriously just taken _twenty_ _points_ from _his_ _own house_? James Potter who was notorious for jinxing Snape at every opportunity. Sirius's mouth fell open unable to believe what James had just done. James folded his arms across his chest and gave Sirius a look that told him James was deadly serious.

Still in shock Sirius lifted the curse sending Snape crashing to the ground. Sirius stormed away mumbling under his breath.

"I'll have McGonagall get back to you about what time to meet her for detention," James told him.

"Traitor," Sirius said his voice full of anger and also James detected, hurt.

James chose to ignore Sirius, as he knew talking would currently do no good. Instead he turned to his attention back to Snape. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine. No thanks to you, Potter," Snape spat.

"Just doing my job," James said calmly. He turned to walk away when suddenly he heard Lily and Remus shout, "Look out!"

With reflexes born from years of Quidditch James ducked and felt Snape's curse brush the top of his head and then saw it, thankfully, hit the ground and not an innocent bystander.

James sighed, turned around and spoke, trying very hard to keep his calm authoritative voice, when really all he wanted to do was curse Snape into oblivion and said, "Alright Snape have it your way, twenty points from Slytherin and a weeks worth of detentions for attacking the Head Boy completely unprovoked." With that he turned and walked away, heading in the direction of his favorite beach tree.

He sat down at under the tree and sighed. Well, at least it was over with. Now he wouldn't have to worry anymore about what would happen when he finally had to exert his authority over his best friend. He knew it would happen eventually but he really had hoped it would have been a little more private.

Although, he reasoned his authority was now firmly established seeing as he had just proven beyond a doubt that he would do his job and enforce the rules even if it meant punishing his best friend and taking points from his own house. James closed his eyes and leaned back against the old beach tree.

"Are you ok?" Lily asked quietly sounding slightly nervous.

James opened his eyes. "I'll get over it. It was bound to happen eventually and now everybody will take me seriously." James laughed at his terrible unintentional pun despite himself.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he won't stay mad at you for long. I mean you were completely within your rights, although, even I was surprised that you took twenty points from Gryffindor, I didn't think you had it in you, I'm not sure I do."

James looked out over the lake. "If it had been anyone else I probably wouldn't have taken as many. But if I went easy on him I'm sure Snape would have gone straight to McGonagall or Dumbledore screaming that I was playing favorites."

"Perhaps," Lily said neutrally.

"I suppose I could have given him more detention and taken less points but McGonagall probably would have taken additional points anyway," James said contemplatively.

"Why would she think he needed more points taken away?" Lily asked curiously.

"It's a long story and I'm not supposed to talk about it," James said in a voice that told Lily she wouldn't get any more out of him. Though she wondered if it had anything to do with the night that James saved Snape's life. Snape had never given her a full account stating that Dumbledore had forbidden him from discussing it.

"Does it have to do with the night you saved Snape from whatever is under the Whomping Willow?"

"Where's Remus?" James asked suddenly hoping to change the subject.

"He went to and I quote, 'go make sure Sirius doesn't do anything too rash,'" Lily replied.

"Ahh," said James. "I should probably make sure to be careful when I go into our dormitory tonight."

With that James pulled out his own homework and for a long time neither of them spoke, both absorbed in their own thoughts.

Several hours later it was starting to get dark and Lily was putting the final touches on her Transfiguration Essay. It definitely wasn't the best essay Lily had ever written, in fact she was pretty sure it was the worst, but at least she was done.

James looked up from his work at the sound of Lily packing up.

"All done?" he asked.

"Finally," Lily said with relief. "Not the best essay I've ever written, but at least it's done."

"I'm sure you did fine," James said confidently.

Lily wished she felt as confident about that as he sounded. Part of her knew she should have sucked it up and asked James to help her, but she had a bit of a pride streak and she refused to accept help from James Potter. No matter how much he seemed to have changed.

James took his cue from Lily and started packing up too.

"Are you finished?" Lily asked.

"No, but I've made a good dent in it, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it up fairly early tomorrow and enjoy most of the day. Besides it's just about dinner time and I'm starving," James said with a grin like a small child.

Lily couldn't help but laugh. James's heart leapt. Lily Evans was laughing at him and not in a bad way. He had done something to be funny and she had laughed at it. Maybe his plan was working after all. He really wanted to take her to the Halloween Ball but he knew that he mustn't ask her yet. He really wished he could ask her to Hogsmeade or something before the ball.

Although he really liked the idea of taking her to the dance, he knew it would be hard to have a conversation with her there and he really wanted their first date to be one where they could talk and get to know each other better and a dance with loud music wasn't really conducive to that. There was bound to be a Hogsmeade visit before the dance perhaps she would agree to go with him and if it went well, maybe she would go to the dance with him. He wished now that he knew if there was a trip or not. Then an idea came to him.

"You know, we really should have asked McGonagall if there was a Hogsmeade trip before the dance or not. I mean people aren't really expecting a dance I'm sure all the girls will want to buy new dress robes," he said suddenly.

Lily looked over at him with a thoughtful expression on her face. "You're right. I could use some, actually," she added as an afterthought. "Let's talk to McGonagall after dinner."

"Sounds like a good idea," he said as they walked into the Entrance Hall.

Lily spied Katie and Marlene sitting with Remus and Peter and nudged James pointing towards them. The four of them looked up as they saw James and Lily heading over.

"Is it true that you're the one who took all those points from us?" Marlene asked sounding slightly scandalized.

James gave her an annoyed look. "Well, if Sirius had just listened and put Snape down the first time I told him to I wouldn't have had to," James said firmly.

"I never thought I'd see the day that James Potter took anything this seriously," said Katie slightly in awe.

"I never thought I'd see the day where James did something to benefit Snape," said Marlene with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't very well let him off in front of half the school. Besides, Sirius really does need to learn boundaries when it comes to stuff like that," James said reasonably. "He can't be quite so blatant in his disregard for the rules once we get out of school."

"But still," Peter argued, "it was Snape. Everyone knows he's a slimy git."

"Snape's not a bad person," Lily said causing everyone to look at her with raised eyebrows. "He's not," Lily continued adamantly.

"So that's whey you don't speak to him anymore?" Katie asked sarcastically interrupting her.

Lily sighed in frustration. "He's not a bad person," she continued adamantly, "he's just made some bad choices. And hopefully he'll realize it before it's too late."

"I think it's time for a new topic," Remus interjected.

"I'll second that," James replied.

"So did you really have to take all those points from us?" Marlene grumbled.

"Yes," James said clearly frustrated.

"Leave him alone guys, he was just doing his job," Lily said.

"James Potter is enforcing the rules and Lily Evans is defending him. The world is ending!" Peter said in mock terror.

"No, it's not," said Remus, laughing none the less.

"Yeah, when they start dating then the world will end," Marlene said, though with difficulty as she was laughing rather hard.

With that their four friends could no longer contain their laughter.

Once they had calmed down a bit James looked at Remus, "Where is Padfoot by the way?"

"Up in the dorm, sulking," said Remus rolling his eyes. "I wouldn't advise going up there alone, no witnesses, yeh know," he added.

James sighed.

"Give him a couple of days to cool off. He'll get over it," Peter said.

"Wormtail's right Prongs, he'll get over it," Remus added reassuringly.

Sighing again James reached for the nearest plate of food.

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Later that night James and Lily were on patrol. So far it had been a pretty quite night. James and Lily had passed the time talking amicably and were walking through the Potions corridor when a thought occurred to James.

"So you never did tell me what your sister said to make you break the Statute for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Wizardry," he reminded her. "I mean I have trouble seeing you just up and cursing anyone even when they deserve it, not even the Slytherins."

"Yeah, but it's one thing to be insulted by a Slytherin, it's different when it's family," Lily explained. "I mean it I'm used to her calling me a freak, that's par for the course…"

"Par for the course?"

"Sorry muggle expression, it means normal. But when she told me she couldn't understand how our parents could stand to let me stay in the house and that if I were _her child_ she'd have chucked me out, well, I just kinda lost it."

James looked at Lily totally confused. "Why does she think you're a freak?"

"Because I'm a witch," Lily answered as though it was obvious.

"I still don't get it, how does that make you a freak?" James was thoroughly confused. "What's freakish about that?"

"Well a lot, technically, if you're a muggle. Seeing as most of them don't know that magic exists. I mean I thought I was a bit of a freak too before I met Severus and he explained it all to me. I didn't realize all the weird stuff that I made happen was magic. I've talked to a couple of the other muggle borns and apparently it's pretty common," Lily said shrugging. "I guess that's why wizard children are usually home schooled, we tend to stick out and be considered odd by muggle children."

"People thought you were odd? But you're the most talented witch I know," James said in disbelief.

Lily laughed in spite of herself. "Well, here I'm normal and I'd argue that at home I'm normal, but that's not how my sister sees it. Well, no that's not true. She didn't think I was a freak until she realized that my being a witch made us different and she couldn't do magic. So instead of admitting that she was jealous she decided that I was a freak."

"Wait," said James with a lot of shocked realization on his face, "are you saying your sister treats you like a freak because she's jealous?! Not that it would be right for her to treat you like a freak for a different reason," he addd.

"Gotten there at last have you?" Lily asked, slightly amused, despite the situation. "And to think, I always thought you were smart."

"But that's not right!" said James indignantly. "You can't help being a witch. And even if you could there's still nothing wrong with it and it's not like you made her not be a witch."

James's anger on her behalf startled Lily. At the moment she was strongly reminded of James's reaction to when one of the other Slytherins would call her a Mudblood.

"It's alright, James, really," Lily said because he looked rather upset about the whole thing.

"No, it's not. It's not right for her to treat you like that just because you're different from her!"

"You hate the Slytherins just because they're Slytherins," Lily stated. "I won't deny a large majority of them are rather unpleasant, but they aren't all going to grow up to be Death Eaters," Lily stated.

"Okay, I guess I see your point," James conceded somewhat begrudgingly. "But that still doesn't give your sister the right to treat you like that. I mean your Mum's right, family shouldn't treat each other like that."

"I guess I've just gotten used to it."

"That's not something you should have to get used to," James said and Lily was sure she'd never heard him sound so…she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She had never heard him speak so passionately about something. She was genuinely shocked at how upset this made him. She had never seen this side of James before or at least she hadn't recognized it for what it was.

"People shouldn't treat other people like that. I know my treatment of the Slytherins, may not always be the most pleasant, but I can't just sit back and watch them treat people the way they do, it's not right."

Lily smiled at him, "You know Potter, maybe you're not as bad as I thought you were. Come on, it's almost midnight let's head back to the common room, I could use some sleep."

James stood there for a moment too shocked to speak or move. Did Lily just say he wasn't as bad as she thought? But she had called him Potter. But not like she usually did. It had been in jest, if he hadn't known any better he would have thought she was flirting with him…but she wouldn't do that. Would she?

"Well, are you coming or are you just gonna stand there all night?" Lily called from the end of the hall snapping James back to reality.

"What, oh yeah, right, I'm coming."

**A/N:** I would like to make it clear that I hate Serious/Sirius puns. I never intended to put one in my story that one just kind of came out and I hadn't realized it until it had been written so I just went with it as I liked the wording of that sentence. So to my fellow Sirius pun haters I apologize.

Also thank you to everyone who continues to review!


	10. Chapter 10 Friendship

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, please don't sue, I have no money.

Chapter 10 Friendship

James went up to his dormitory after patrol and slipped quietly into the room. He was disappointed that all of his friends were already in bed apparently asleep. He wasn't completely shocked as it was after midnight but he had been hoping that Padfoot would still be awake so they could talk. He hadn't spoken to him after dinner because Remus had advised that he still needed some time to cool off.

He felt bad for having to punish Sirius but he had deserved it and Sirius really did need to learn some self-control, even if it was Snape. They would be graduating from Hogwarts soon and in the real world Sirius couldn't go around hexing people just because he felt like it. At Hogwarts that got you detention. In the real world that got you sent to Azkaban. Knowing that he'd just have to wait until morning to try and talk to Padfoot, James got into bed. He didn't fall asleep, however.

Lily's word's kept playing over and over in his head, 'You know Potter, maybe you're not as bad as I thought you were.' Maybe there was still hope. If he could just keep from doing anything too stupid maybe she'd agree to meet him in Hogsmeade.

He and Lily had talked to Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore at dinner and both had agreed that a Hogsmeade weekend before the ball was a good idea, one they had already thought of in fact, and that there would be one the first weekend in October.

James knew that Lily would want to use at least part of the time to go dress robe shopping with Katie and Marlene, but perhaps she would consent to meet up with him in the afternoon for a butterbeer and a casual stroll through the village. As long as she didn't want to go to Madame Pudifoot's, if she did, well he didn't think she would, so he just wouldn't think about that.

He was pretty sure he'd once heard her say that the only way you'd get her in there was to stun her and then put her under the imperious curse, while she was still unconscious, and even then, she'd find a way to fight it. With the highly amusing image of a stunned and imperioused Lily fighting against being dragged into Madame Pudifoot's James fell asleep.

Lily, however, came back to a dormitory full of girls who were very much awake and quite giggly. Apparently, Lily learned, Mary was now dating a Ravenclaw seventh year named David Williams.

Although Lily had told James that she hated girls her were constantly giggly being giggly during girl time was an entirely different matter all together and Lily eagerly changed into her pajamas and flopped down next to Marlene who had a bag of chocolate frogs.

"So, David Williams, huh," Lily said as she grabbed a frog. "He's in my Ancient Runes class, seems like a nice guy."

"Yeah, and he's also fun to look at," Katie added.

"Yes, I'd noticed that too," said Lily grinning at Mary

"Hey, hands off, he's mine!" Mary declared pretending to throw a death glare at Lily and Katie.

The other girls simply laughed. Lily had fun with the girls trying to get more details about Mary's budding new romance. Once they had exhausted Mary's information on the topic Katie turned to Lily.

"So, Lily," Katie asked with a devious look on her face, "what exactly is going on with you and James Potter."

Lily felt her face redden slightly.

"Nothing is going on," Lily said, trying to convince herself more than Katie. She did not like James Potter they were just making an effort to get along for the sake of their roles as Head Boy and Girl.

"He wrote to me after we got our Hogwarts letters and said that even though we didn't always get along in the past he thought it would be a good idea if we made an effort to get along in a professional capacity. And really, how would it look if the Head Boy and Girl couldn't get along, it would completely undermine our authority. Plus I was so shocked that he took the mature path and attempted to clear the air, before I'd even thought of it, that I figured it couldn't hurt to agree."

"Right," said Katie, "So what's going on with you and James?"

"Nothing," Lily repeated mildly exasperated.

"Oh come on Lily," Marlene said rolling her eyes. "You guys get along great, I've seen you. You've had multiple conversations so far this year that did not result in you annoyed with him. There's something going on."

"I…I don't know. It's really weird. I've never seen this side of him. I mean back when I was a Prefect, patrolling was dull, even when I was with someone I was friends with, we'd get bored, I mean you can only talk about classes and Professors so many times before you exhaust the topics. But we never seem to run out of stuff to talk about. And I feel oddly comfortable talking to him," Lily said this last part rather quietly.

"Uh oh," Katie said in a sing song voice, "I think somebody's got a crush."

"Oh who?" Marlene asked jokingly.

"Guys I do not," Lily insisted flushing again.

"Oh, I think you do," Abby grinned. Mary nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

Lily grabbed Marlene's pillow and buried her face in it.

"Oh come on Lily, there's no shame in it," Katie said in exasperation. "Who hasn't had a crush on James Potter at some point? You just happen to be extra lucky cause unlike the rest of us, he worships the ground you walk on."

"No he doesn't," Lily mumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow. "He just wants me because I won't go out with him. Once I say yes, he'll be over it."

Suddenly Marlene burst out laughing. The other girls looked at her like she was crazy and Katie threw a pillow at her but Marlene wasn't deterred and it took her almost a full minute to regain her composure.

"What on earth could possibly be that funny?" Lily asked looking both annoyed and curious at the same time. "James is only after me cause won't go out with him, I don't see the humor."

"Well if _you_ were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with him you would understand," Marlene explained fighting hard to keep from laughing again.

"What's that's supposed to mean?" Lily asked definitely sounding annoyed.

"Well," Marlene began as if she had a very exciting Christmas present. "If you were on the team you would know that that boy never shuts up about you. There were a few times last year when _I_ considered spiking your morning Pumpkin Juice with love potion just so you'd go out with him and he'd shut up about it. The only thing that restrained me was the fact that I knew_he'd_ kill me if I did it. That boy is completely enamoured with you. It's kinda pathetic really," Marlene explained exasperated.

"You considered giving me a love potion," Lily asked her temper flaring slightly.

"Yeah, believe me, if you had to deal with him pestering you for advice on how to convince Lily Evans to give him a chance you'd consider giving yourself love potion too. I thought about just knocking him off his broom with my beater bat once…but I figured it would be cruel to kill him before he got to go on a date with his dream girl."

At this Lily grabbed Marlene's pillow and hit Marlene with said pillow. "His dream girl, have you been sneaking fire whiskey and not sharing," Lily asked.

"You think I'm kidding, but I'm not," Marlene stated. "That boy is head over heels for you, he just sucks at showing it."

"Yeah, right," Lily retorted.

"Believe what you want, doesn't change a thing," Marlene said with an heir of superiority.


	11. Chapter 11 A Change in Attitude

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter J.K. Rowling does...blah blah blah...you know the rest.

Chapter 11 A Change in Attitude

James now realized that his concerns about Sirius's ability to stay angry with him were not unfounded. It had been two weeks since James had stopped Sirius and taken twenty points from Gryffindor, Sirius had completed his week of detention James had given him plus the extra week McGonagall had given him on top of that and he still wouldn't even be in the same room with him, let alone speak to him. This made James very nervous as the full moon was fast approaching and he and Sirius really couldn't afford to be fighting each other when they needed to be worried about Moony.

The one benefit to Sirius not talking to him was that he was now sitting with Lily in Potions. Sirius, while not actually angry with Lily, still didn't want to sit with her because she was, "on James side." Therefore, Sirius had taken to sitting with Marlene, leaving James to sit with Lily.

On this particular Monday Slughorn began class by presenting them with a potion he had brewed himself.

"So," Slughorn began, "who can tell me what this potion I have here is?"

Lily's hand went into the air. James looked over at Snape, surprised he too hadn't raised his hand, and noticed him eyeing Slughorn's potion with a look he usually reserved for James or Sirius.

"Ah, Miss Evans, of course," Slughorn said grinning as he always did when Lily raised her hand in his class.

"It's Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world."

"Very good, Miss Evans, very good. You will all remember this potion, of course, from the essay I set you the first week of school. I had hoped to have it ready sooner, but alas some of the ingredients are best when picked at the full moon and then this potion is required to sit for two weeks before the final stage. This, however, is not the reason we won't be brewing it. This is one of the most dangerous potions we will study in NEWT level potions and I have placed a spell on this cauldron so I shall know if even a drop is missing."

"I don't see how a love potion can be that dangerous. I've seen much more gruesome ones in 'Moste Potent Potions,'" Snape scowled under his breath. Slughorn heard him despite this.

"Ah Mr. Snape, you may think that, but never underestimate the dangers of obsessive love. Which is what this potion really creates. It is of course, impossible to create real love from a potion. Now, Miss Evans, can you tell me what is special about this potion, besides being the most powerful love potion in the world of course?"

"Its smell is different to each person."

"Very good, ten points to Gryffindor. So is anybody brave enough to come up to the cauldron tell me what they smell?" Nobody raised their hand. In fact, they all became rather quiet.

Lily didn't raise her hand but she was sitting right in front of the potion and couldn't resist taking a deep, although quite, breath."

She smelled fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, fresh cut grass, cinnamon, and a fourth smell that she could not identify but was pretty sure she had smelled somewhere before.

James, who was sitting next to Lily, also took a subtle whiff of the potion. 'Mmm,' he though, treacle tart, new Quidditch ball (think new car smell) smell, and something sweet, that after a moment of thought he realized was a smell he associated with Lily. James grinned to himself.

James sat up in the boy's dormitory later that evening trying to do his homework but he was having trouble concentrating. The date for the first Hogsmeade weekend had just been announced that day and James was trying to figure out the best way to ask Lily to go with him, or at least meet up with him. He was afraid that if he waited too long someone else would ask her and if that happened he didn't know what he would do.

As he sat there, reading the same question for the fourth time, 'Explain the difficulties in human transfiguration when transfiguring a human into a non-mammal' Remus came in.

"Hey, Prongs, how's the homework coming?"

"It's not," James replied looking stressed.

"What's wrong, NEWTS can't be getting you that stressed yet?"

"No, it's not NEWTS, I'm not to worried about them, their just tests."

"Well what's the problem then?" Remus asked, although he already suspected what the problem was related to.

"It's Lily," James began…

"Ah, my next guess."

"Yeah, well I want to ask her to Hogsmeade, but I don't know how to go about it. I mean she usually gets really mad when I ask her out, but I don't know of any other way to get her to go on a date with me, _that are legal_, besides asking. Plus I'm fairly certain that if I used a sub-legal method of getting her to go to Hogsmeade with me, that she'd never speak to me again, mostly because she'd have killed me, no matter how much fun we had."

Remus laughed slightly. "Why don't you try asking nicely," Remus suggested grinning.

James looked at Remus like he was crazy. "Ask her nicely. What kind of advice is that? I already planned on doing it nicely."

"Well," Remus began hesitantly. "You haven't always asked her out so nicely in the past."

"Point taken. But how should I go about it. I mean I don't want her to get angry with me. I want her to say yes."

"Well, I still suggest asking nicely and just being…good James, whom Lily seems to like, instead of being arrogant prat James, whom you normally are when you ask her out and whom she hates. If you ask as good James I'm sure she'll say yes," Remus explained knowingly.

"Thanks Remus," James said smiling. "You know, its times like these I don't understand why you don't have a girlfriend."

"Who'd want to date me?" Remus asked quietly.

"Plenty of people," James said seriously.

"I highly doubt that," Remus replied despondently.

"Anyone who wouldn't date you because you're a werewolf is a waste of your time," James said a hint of bitterness in his voice. "But there's plenty of people who know better."

Remus just sighed. James felt anger flare up inside him. Not because he was angry with Remus, but because he was angry with the people who were responsible for Remus thinking that being a werewolf made him a bad person.

"You're one of the best people I know Moony," James said supportively. "Anyone who doesn't see that is a fool."

"Thanks James," said Remus smiling slightly as he picked up the DADA book he had originally come upstairs for as he headed towards the door.

"Thanks to you too Moony," James said as Remus walked out the door.

Remus walked down the spiral staircase and into the Common Room. One look around it told him that he would get absolutely no work done sitting in the Common Room, it was simply too crowded. With this thought Remus picked up his bag and headed off to the Library. He looked around for a table to sit at and spotted Lily sitting at a table tucked away in a corner behind some of the stacks. He made his way over to her.

"Do you mind if I sit down," Remus asked.

Lily looked up from her work, "Not at all."

"Thanks," Remus replied.

"No problem, how've you been?" Lily asked.

"Not bad, you?"

"I've been pretty good," Lily replied.

"What are you working on?" Remus asked.

"Potions."

"Ah, wasn't sorry to give that up at all," Remus said with a grin. "Don't know how you can do it."

"I like potions, there's just something about a simmering cauldron and the preciseness of it that appeals to me."

"So are you enjoying being Head Girl?"

"Yeah. I mean it's a lot of work and all, but it's still enjoyable. I'm sorry you didn't get Head Boy," she added.

"Don't be. I didn't want it. Being a Prefect is one thing, but Head Boy, no thanks. Besides I think James is a lot better at it than I would be. I never would have had the guts to tell Sirius off like he did."

Lily smiled, "I sure would have done fine."

"Naw, James is much better at controlling Sirius than I was at controlling the two of them."

Lily couldn't help but laugh at this. "Sorry," she added.

"Quite all right."

"I have to say though, that I'm shocked at how seriously James is taking this. When I first read my letter telling me that we would be Head Girl and Boy together I was convinced Dumbledore had lost his mind, I think James thought Dumbledore had lost his mind too," Lily laughed at this. "I was shocked when his letter came, asking if we could set our differences aside so we could work together effectively. And this year, he's been so…different…"

"Yes, James grew up quite a bit at the end of last year."

"Why, what happened?" Lily asked curiously.

"I can't tell you, sorry," Remus replied, looking slightly nervous.

"You boys and your mysteriousness. James said the same thing after the incident with Sirius and Snape…"

"Huh?! What?!" Remus said suddenly looking worried.

"After that Saturday by the lake…" Lily said slowly.

"Oh right…"

"James said McGonagall would probably give Sirius more detentions in addition to the ones James gave him, and when I asked why, he said he couldn't talk about it. What did you think I meant?"

"Never mind," Remus replied calming down quickly. Lily looked at him oddly. "So what are you doing for potions?" Remus asked changing the subject.

Lily was still curious but she let it go. "Writing an essay on the proper way to brew Vertiserum. We're going to begin brewing it soon and its rather finicky so Professor Slughorn is making us write an essay first to, 'properly familiarize ourselves with the method,'" Lily explained in an excellent imitation of Slughorn.

"You know," Remus said suddenly. "You really should give James a chance. He really does like you."

Lily looked at Remus like he had lost his mind. "Where did that come from?"

"Just sort of popped into my head," he replied nonchalantly. "I know he always used to act like an arrogant prat in front of you, but he really isn't one. He just didn't know how to act in front of you," Remus explained. "I think he's only now starting to figure out that showing off every time he sees you is _not_ the key to your heart," Remus chuckled.

"Why did he feel the need to show off every time he saw me?" Lily asked genuinely confused.

"Because you were the one girl he's really interested in and unlike all the others you don't simply fall at his feet, which I won't deny is probably part of your appeal," Remus said wisely.

"See I told Marlene he only wanted to go out with me because I wouldn't give him the time of day," Lily grumbled.

"No, no, no," Remus said quickly worried that this wasn't going to go as well as he'd hoped.

"He doesn't view you just as some sort of challenge, he really does like you. I'm just saying that part of your appeal is that you don't throw yourself at his feet. His "fan club" only likes him because he's James Potter and while James may enjoy the attention, the more serious James hiding below the surface wants someone whose interested in him, not just his reputation. Plus he's had a crush on you since our first ride on the Hogwarts Express," Remus grinned. "He's a bit hopeless to be honest."

Lily looked at Remus like he was crazy. "But he can be so arrogant…"

"Well, yes, but, and here we must be honest that there really isn't much James isn't good at. If you spent your whole life being told how great you are, you'd be a bit arrogant too. I mean yes, he and Sirius screw around a lot, but they're still excellent students, even McGonagall won't deny it if you ask her. And James is really good at Quidditch and he is an only child who is the apple of his parents eye…Plus he's got this personality that makes him really good with people in general, so pretty much everyone likes him. When you put it all together, you can kind of understand why he's always acted so arrogant, even if it was rather um…unbecoming."

Lily had to admit it was really hard to argue with Remus's logic.

"But at least he's starting to grow out of the need to prove just how good he is at everything," Remus chuckled. "And I can tell you from personal experience, you couldn't ask for a more loyal friend. You really should give him a chance," Remus finished.

"I'll think about it," Lily replied cautiously.

"That's all I ask," Remus replied. "Now I have distracted us from our homework for long enough." With that Remus pulled out his DADA book and started his homework.

Lily, however, was now having trouble concentrating. Her mind kept wandering back to what Remus had said earlier. Did James really like her? It was one thing when Marlene said it, sure she was friends with James, but they really didn't hang out outside of Quidditch, plus she and Katie liked to give Lily a hard time about James for their own amusement anyway. When Remus sat there arguing that James really did like her, however, it was harder to argue with. She knew Remus well enough from their patrols as Prefects to know that he wouldn't make all that up even if James had asked him to, Remus was not dishonest like that.

She also couldn't help wondering what it was that neither James nor Remus could talk about. She had the feeling that both were referring to the same incident, though she had no proof of this.


	12. Chapter 12 Maybe I Am

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 12 Maybe I'm being an Arse

By the end of the third week of September James had had enough of Sirius's behavior. Sirius was being completely ridiculous and it was time that he saw reason. As James headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room from Quidditch practice he decided that if Sirius wouldn't talk to him willingly then James would simply corner Sirius and make Sirius talk to him. James gave the password to the Fat Lady and entered the Common Room, looking for his friends. He spotted Remus and Peter playing chess and headed over to them.

"How was practice?" Remus asked as James walked up beside him.

"It was fine," James replied.

Remus who was used to that question being followed by at least a ten minute rehashing of how practice went looked up at James.

"Have either of you seen Padfoot?"

"He's upstairs, why?" Peter replied not looking up from the chessboard. He was winning.

"Because I've had enough of his nonsense. I'm going to make him see reason!" James declared his frustration evident in his voice.

With that James turned and marched up the stairs.

"Let's give them a few minutes before we go and stop them," Remus advised after a moment still looking at the foot of the stairs leading up to he boy's dormitory.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Peter replied. "Checkmate."

Remus looked at the board in disbelief and realized he'd lost…again. Not that this was entirely unusual. Peter might not be great in class, but he had an uncanny knack for chess.

Remus sighed. "Well let's clean up and then go stop them, shall we?"

In response Peter began to pick up the chess pieces, smiling, and put them back in their respective bags. Peter liked chess; it was the only thing he was better at then his friends, it was rare that any of the Marauders could beat him at it.

While all this was going on James was confronting Sirius…

"Hey, Sirius," James said as he entered.

Sirius ignored him and bent down to examine his parchment more closely.

"Sirius you're acting like a five year old!" James shouted angrily.

Sirius turned to face James, "And _you're_ supposed to be my best friend, yet you put me in detention** AND** you took _twenty points, that's two zero,_ _from your__own house!_" Sirius yelled back.

"I was doing my job, you prat! Just because you're my best friend doesn't mean I can let you off the hook! It would have completely undermined my authority if I had just stood there and done nothing! Dumbledore trusted me to do this job and I am NOT going to screw it up!"

"But I'm your best mate!"

"If you really were my best mate you wouldn't have gone out of your way to try and make me look foolish. Some friend!" James hollered back now furious.

Sirius was at a loss for words so he did the only thing he could think of, he leapt at James knocking him to the ground.

Remus and Peter came in about thirty seconds later to find James and Sirius rolling around on the ground in a furious wrestling match. They stood in the doorway for a few moments watching. Only being able to discern the occasional, "Bloody prat!" "Kick your arse!" "Raving lunatic!"

After a few moments Remus stepped in or he tried at least, but he backed away quickly when a wayward punch almost hit him in the face.

"Break it up you two, come on now, you're supposed to be friends."

When this didn't work Remus looked at Peter.

"You take Sirius, I'll take James."

Remus nodded. "One, two, three!"

Remus and Peter charged at them. Peter grabbed James and pulled him backwards. Remus grabbed hold of Sirius as he tried to lunge at James again and pulled him over to the other side of the room as far away from James as he could get and still be in the room.

James calmed down a bit once he was separated from Sirius but Sirius was still struggling against Remus's grip.

"Come on you two," Remus growled. "This isn't how best friends are supposed to act."

"He started it!" Sirius shouted.

"No he didn't, you did!" Sirius stopped struggling momentarily and stared at Peter. It wasn't often that he was outspoken.

"Don't look at me like that. James told you to leave Snape alone and you didn't listen. If he hadn't given you detention and taken points when YOU didn't listen he would have looked like a fool and nobody would have taken him seriously as Head Boy. But you just kept at it with no thought to how your actions would effect your friend." Peter gave Sirius a significant look as he said this last part.

"This is so not the same thing!" Sirius fumed.

Sirius turned to Remus for support. "Wormtail's right mate. James would have looked like a fool if he hadn't punished you, did that ever occur to you?"

Sirius looked at Remus, then over at James and Peter. He sighed and hung his head.

"I'm sorry I was such an arse," he mumbled.

"Just don't do it again," James responded holding out his hand.

Sirius took it and pulled James into a manly backslapping hug.


	13. Chapter 13 Nerves

Chapter 13 Nerves

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. He is the exclusive property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., and anyone else J.K. Rowling has agreed to let borrow him, which does not include me.

**Chapter 13 Nerves**

A couple of nights after Sirius and James had made up James and Lily were out on patrol. James had been trying to get up the courage to ask her out all week and was determined to do it now. He had decided that when they were patrolling would be the best time as it was one of the few times when he was able to speak to her without other people around.

He hoped that not asking her out in front of large groups of people would emphasize the fact that he was not just asking her to go out with him because she was a challenge. He also liked the fact that if she rejected him the world would not, once again, be there to witness it.

James's concern over asking Lily out had not gone entirely unnoticed. James spent much of their patrol lost in his own thoughts causing him to be unusually quiet that evening, though Lily of course had no idea what the cause of it was.

Maybe he's just tired, she thought. Lily herself had been very busy for the past week between her homework and her Head duties and James had both of those plus Quidditch practices several nights a week. He also seemed to be on the verge of saying something for most of the night and Lily couldn't deny that she was more than mildly curious about what it was.

"Um, ah, Lily?" James began nervously.

What on earth could be making him this nervous, Lily wondered. He sounded even more nervous than when he was worried that he would be a terrible Head Boy.

"Yes, James?" Lily asked for James had fallen silent once more.

"Well, um, I was wondering…well, this Saturday, I mean, I know you and your friends are planning on going dress robe shopping…" James trailed off.

"Yes, and?" Lily was starting to suspect where this might be heading though he had never sounded this nervous in the past, he had always sounded quite the opposite in fact. She was also surprised to find that a part of her really was hoping he was heading in the direction she suspected.

"Well, I was wondering if umm, maybe…you'dliketomeetmebutterbeerthreebroomsticksafternoon?" he said this last part very quickly and almost incomprehensibly.

Lily looked at him, getting the gist of, but not entirely understanding what he had just said.

"Could you repeat that last bit once more?" she asked smiling. "A bit more slowly this time."

James started to run his hair nervously through his hair and then stopped abruptly remembering how much Lily hated it when he did that.

"Um," James took a deep breath. "I was wondering…if you would like to meet me in the afternoon for a butter beer at the Three Broomsticks..."

Lily opened her mouth to reply, "I…"

"Of course if you don't want to I completely understand. I know you've always said 'no' in the past, but we've been getting along so well I thought I'd give it a try. If you don't want to I promise I'll never ask you again," James rambled quickly.

Lily smiled at him and laughed, she just couldn't help it. He really was adorable when he was nervous. No, no, she had to stop thinking that!

"What's so funny?" James asked confused and trying to hide his slight annoyance. He had never been so nervous in his life. _He_ didn't see the humor.

"Sorry," Lily chuckled. "It's just I don't think I've ever seen you like this before. I still have difficulty picturing you being nervous about anything," Lily smiled. "And I suppose I really haven't ever given you a fair chance in the past…"

James couldn't believe his ears. Was she really going to agree to go with him?

"I'm going to give you one chance Potter," Lily said, half-serious, half-joking, poking James in the chest.

"Really?" James asked still not believing it was happening. _Lily Evans_ was agreeing to go on a date with him. Sure she was also making it clear that this was only a trial date and if he screwed it up she'd never go out with him ever again, but still she was giving him a chance.

"Yes, really," Lily said rolling her eyes. You'd think he'd just won the Quidditch World Cup or something, the way he was grinning. "What time do you want to meet at the Three Broomsticks?"

"Um, is one o'clock okay? Will that give you enough time to go dress robe shopping with your friends?"

"Yeah, that should be fine, as long as we leave the castle on time."

James smiled, "It's a date then."

Lily laughed, still not quite able to believe that she was going on a date with James Potter. "Yes, James, it's a date, just one date."

"I get it. I won't screw it up, I swear."

Lily gave him a, mostly joking, skeptical look but James just smiled. He was going on a date with Lily Evans…Oh Merlin, what if he ruined it. James was suddenly more nervous than he'd been before he had asked her out.

--

Lily walked slowly up to the stairs to the girls' dormitory later that night still not quite able to comprehend the fact that she, Lily Evans, was going on a date with James Potter. This seemed to be her new mantra. It had been running through her head ever since she had agreed to go out with him only an hour before. Clearly she had lost her mind.

But then she thought back to the James that she'd gotten to know over the past few weeks and she had to admit that part of her was excited. Hard as she tried to suppress the feeling she couldn't quite deny that she liked the idea. Plus Remus was right; it was only fair to give him a chance. That was why she was doing it, because it was only fair. He seemed to have grown up a lot in recent months and it was only fair that she give him a chance. Didn't Dumbledore always say that everyone deserved a chance to prove themselves.

Lily walked into the dorm to find her friends once again sitting around in their pajamas.

"Hey, Lily," Katie said as Lily entered the room. "You're just in time, we're rating all the guy's in seventh year."

Lily laughed, "Sounds like fun. Oh, and I have something to tell you, but let me get ready for bed first."

With that Lily went off to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Once that was accomplished and she had changed into her pajamas she settled herself on her bed.

"Ok, so what is it that you have to tell us?" Katie asked excitedly.

"Well," Lily began slowly. If she was going to have to tell them that she had agreed to go on a date with James she might at well have fun with it and tell it in the most long and drawn out way possible.

"The funniest thing happened when James and I were on patrol," at this the girls excitement faded slightly, they had thought perhaps James had asked Lily out, but apparently it was just a funny patrol story, not that they didn't enjoy them but…

"James was acting really odd all evening," the girls perked up again at once.

"Unusually quiet you see, and it seemed like he kept trying to say something but then he wouldn't." Lily had the girls undivided attention now.

"And so finally he brought up what he wanted." The room was deadly silent, the other four girls were barely even breathing in anticipation of where this "patrol story" was going.

"Well, after repeating himself a couple of times, because he was having trouble speaking coherently, he finally managed to ask me out. I've never seen that boy so nervous. He could barely string two words together," Lily finished chuckling.

"Well?! Well?!" Katie demanded.

"Well, what?" Lily asked trying very hard to suppress the grin that was threatening to cross her face.

"What did you say?!" Mary demanded again. "Come on, the suspense is killing us!"

Lily laughed and then smiled, "Well…"

"Yes, yes?" Katie said encouragingly.

"Exactly," Lily replied.

The girls stared at her in confusion for a moment, and then they simultaneously realized exactly what Lily had just said.

"I knew it, I knew it!" Katie cheered.

Lily couldn't help but laugh at her friends' excitement.

"It's just one date guys, relax. I figure if I go out with him this once maybe he'll get over me and then I won't have to worry about it any more."

"Lily Marie Evans, you are such a liar," Katie told her pointing her finger admonishingly. "But as you at least agreed to give him a chance I'll forgive you this one time. For soon you will see the error of your ways."

Lily rolled her eyes at Katie.

"So what are you going to do about dress robes, now that you're going on a date with James?" Abby asked.

"Oh, I'm still going dress robe shopping with you guys first. James knew we were planning on it, I'm actually surprised he remembered, so he asked if I would like to meet him in the afternoon."

"See I told you he was a good guy," Marlene grinned knowingly.

"He's okay," Lily retorted.

"Denial is not a healthy thing, Lily," Katie informed her.

"Oh, shut-up," Lily said jokingly.

"Oh, you know you want him," Katie told her grinning.

"I'm going to bed, we have class in the morning and I for one would like to be awake for it," Lily said as she climbed under the covers and pulled her hangings shut.

"You can't hide from us forever, Evans," Katie called through her curtains before heading to bed herself.

Meanwhile in the boy's dorm…

"Hey Prongs, how was patrolling with_ Lily_?" Sirius asked grinning deviously.

James opened his mouth to tell his friends that Lily had agreed to go on a date with him but stopped at the sound of Sirius's tone. Lily's words kept coming back to him, 'I'll give you one chance Potter.' James knew Sirius would give Lily a hard time if he found out and he didn't want Lily to get mad at him for bragging to his friends and call off their date.

"It was fine," James replied. "We didn't even catch anyone out of bed."

"Well, that's good for the people who were out of bed then," Sirius replied.

James laughed and began getting ready for bed.

The rest of the time before the Hogsmeade trip passed quickly. James felt bad about not telling his friends about his date with Lily, but every time he was about to her words would come back to him and he would panic and change his mind again. He knew he could tell Remus, but he knew it would be worse to just tell Remus then to not tell any of them.

He was really nervous by Friday afternoon, however, and he needed to talk to somebody, he just didn't know whom. It was too late to owl his father and he had already determined that he couldn't tell Remus. As he entered the changing rooms for Quidditch Practice he ran into Marlene.

"Hey Potter, meant to tell you earlier but better late than never, congratulations!" She smiled at him and headed into the locker room to change.

Apparently, James surmised, Lily had told her friends. That gave James an idea.

After practice he cornered Marlene and started walking up to the castle with her, hanging back from the rest of the team.

"What's up, James?" Marlene asked.

"I assume you know about Lily agreeing to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked nervously. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he were wrong.

"Yes, Lily told us, don't worry. I have to say though, I'm surprised I haven't heard anything about it on the rumor mill."

"That's because I haven't told my friends," James said chuckling.

"You haven't told them?" Marlene asked surprised. While she recognized that James wasn't just after Lily because she was unattainable, she was still shocked he hadn't run to brag to his friends.

"If I told Sirius he would just give Lily a hard time about it and then she might change her mind. I'd tell Remus but then it's not fair to Peter and Sirius and if I tell Peter, he might let it slip to Sirius. His hearts always in the right place, Peter's is, but he's not the best with secrets," James explained.

"So what is it that you want exactly?" Marlene asked.

"I need advice and as I can't go to Remus…"

"Why do you need advice? You got her to agree to go out with you."

"Well, yes, but I'd like to have the opportunity to ask her out again. What should I do?"

Marlene laughed at him. Lily was right, it was odd to see James Potter this nervous. Sure he always got a bit nervous before big Quidditch matches but he hid it much better.

"Just do whatever it is you've been doing since you wrote her that letter agreeing to make peace and you'll be fine," Marlene advised.

"You're about as helpful as Moony when it comes to advise," James grumbled.

"I'm completely serious. Whatever it is you're doing it's working. Just keep it up."

"I'm not doing anything, I'm just being myself," James said, slightly frustrated.

"Oh, well, that explains it then. Seeing as you used to act like a complete prat around her. So just keeping being yourself and you'll be fine. Oh, and don't go cursing Snape while on your date or anytime she's within seeing or hearing distance and you should be fine."

James sighed.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. She really does like you, she's just in denial. She's a bit stubborn, that girl, but she'll get over it. Just be yourself." With that last bit of wisdom Marlene climbed through the portrait hole and bounded up the stairs to the girls dormitory to take a much needed shower."

James continued on, deciding that he would use the Heads bathroom instead. It would be quiet there and he could hopefully relax a bit. He didn't want to be a complete wreck tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14 Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter etc...

Chapter 14 Hogsmeade

Lily woke up early on Saturday morning and began dressing more carefully than she normally would. Although she kept insisting that she was only giving James a chance because it was the fair thing to do, part of her wanted to look nice for her date. 'A very small part,' she kept telling herself. 'I'm only doing this because it's fair. Just because nothing will come of it doesn't mean I shouldn't put in the same amount of effort on any other date.'

By the time Lily was ready to go so were, surprisingly, all four of her roommates. The girls all headed down to breakfast together. They had all agreed to go shopping together as they all needed dress robes.

"So where are we going to go shopping for dress robes," Lily asked. Lily was slightly worried about buying dress robes as up until now she had not needed them and actually had no idea what they looked like.

"Gladrags Wizardwear?" Abby asked with a shrug looking at the other girls.

"Yeah, Gladrags is probably the best place to start," Marlene agreed. "They'll have the biggest selection. That's where my mother buys most of her dress robes. Sometimes she goes to Madame Malkin's of course, but as that's in Diagon Alley and not Hogsmeade…"

Katie and Marcie nodded in agreement. "I get a lot of my dress robes from there too. They're always nice and a bit cheaper than Madame Malkin's anyway. I only get dress robes from Madame Malkin's if my mother is paying," Katie said grinning.

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Because a lot of Madame Malkin's dress robes are specially made for her shop, so they're more unique, but that also means they're more expensive."

"Oh, I didn't realize that," Lily said surprised.

"Yeah, I mean not all of them are of course, but the nicest ones are. Like our school robes certainly aren't hand made," Katie explained.

"Yeah, I kinda figure that," Lily said pretending to glare at her friend.

Katie just laughed and poured syrup on her pancakes.

Lily saw the boys come in but James led them to seats at the other end of the table. He smiled at Lily as they walked past and she couldn't help but smile back.

The rest of the girls giggled resulting in the other three Marauders to look at them strangely. But by then James had led them too far down the table for them to say anything to the girls.

"What's up with them?" Peter asked.

James just shrugged.

Shortly after the Marauders' arrival the girls finished they're breakfast and headed over to get in the line of students going to the village, waiting somewhat impatiently for Filch to check everyone's name off on the list of students with permission to go to Hogsmeade.

"Finally," Katie said in exasperation once Filch had finally let them through the door. "I swear it is that guys mission in life to make all our lives as difficult as possible."

The other four girls laughed as they walked down the road to the village. There weren't too many students heading down to the village yet. The girls had left fairly early to make sure they had plenty of time to finish their shopping before one o'clock. Lily wasn't the only one with a date, Marcie was meeting her boyfriend, and a Ravenclaw named Mark Diggle had asked Katie out.

The girls walked into Gladrags and headed over to the women's dress robes section. Lily was immediately overwhelmed. There were so many dress robes to choose from.

The girls began to go through the racks of clothes pulling out robes that they liked or that they thought would be good on one of their friends. After two hours of searching and trying on everyone had dress robes, except Lily. Katie had chosen lilac dress robes, Marlene, a very pale grayish blue, Abby light pink, and Marcie's were a dark red rose color.

It seemed to Lily that no matter what she tried on it wasn't right. All the robes she'd tried on either didn't fit quite right or clashed horribly with her red hair. Normally Lily loved her hair, but it was times like these that she wished it were a boring color like brown or blonde. She had tried on a pair of green dress robes that matched her eyes and didn't clash with her hair, but the green and red combination made her feel like a gaudy Christmas decoration.

"How about this one?" Marlene asked holding up a cream dress robe.

Lily looked at it critically. "I don't think I like it. I mean the color is nice, but the robe itself…"

"You at least have to try it on, Lily. My mother says that if you should never judge clothes by how they look on the rack, whether they look amazing or horrible, what matters is how they look once you put them on." Marlene said this as if it settled the matter.

"Besides we need to find you something soon or you'll be late for date with James," Katie added in a devious tone that suggested she knew Lily would give in all along.

"Fine, fine, but it's going to look terrible," Lily grumbled.

Lily walked out of the dressing room a few minutes later.

"Oh my," Katie said when she saw her.

"See I told you it would be awful," Lily replied.

"Have you looked in a mirror," Katie asked in disbelief.

"No," said Lily looking at Katie oddly.

"Well, perhaps you should," Marlene suggested.

Lily turned around to look in the mirror behind her.

"Oh," she stated. "Marlene, the next time you see your mother, if I'm not around tell her she gives wonderful advice," Lily said staring at her reflection in the mirror.

"She'll be happy she was able to help," Marlene said grinning.

Lily looked more closely at the dress robe she was wearing. It fit perfectly in all the right places. She didn't think she had ever owned a muggle dress quite as perfect as this dress robe. What's more this dress was on sale.

Smiling happily the five girls went to the counter to pay for their purchases.

Once the boys finished breakfast they headed for the village. James still hadn't told his friends about his date with Lily. He was hoping to be able to give them the slip while they were in Zonko's. They would be completely distracted, especially Sirius, and would not notice if he disappeared. It took them a bit longer to get of the castle than the girls because by this time the majority of the students were starting to leave.

When they arrived in Hogsmeade Sirius made a beeline for Honeyduke's declaring that his stock of sugar was running low. James took advantage of their stop to buy a box of Honeyduke's Chocolate that Lily had mentioned she liked. He told the Marauders that his mother had asked him to send it to her. As his mother was very fond of chocolate the Marauders didn't question his story.

They spent quite a lot of time in Honeyduke's and when they left James suggested they go to the Three Broomsticks for a butter beer. James wanted to get that trip over with because he was concerned that they would spend so much time in Zonko's that his friends would be ready to go to the Three Broomsticks when it was time for him to meet Lily and, love his friends though he did, he didn't fancy bringing them on his date.

Thankfully the other three quickly agreed. Once they had chatted up Rosemarta and enjoyed a pint of butter beer each, the boys headed over to Zonko's. Thankfully it was a little after 12: 30 by this time and James knew that his friends would be thoroughly distracted for at least an hour giving him time to slip away unnoticed.

At 12: 50, with his friends thoroughly distracted by Dr. Filibusters new line of Wet Start, No Heat Fireworks, James slipped out of the store and headed over to the Three Broomsticks. He was a few minutes early and so he got the last open table, which was a bit closer to the window then he like, but oh well, and ordered two butter beers.

James was very nervous and slightly worried that Lily wouldn't show up but his fears where assuaged when Lily walked in at exactly one o'clock. She looked around and as soon as she spotted him she headed over and sat down.

"Hey," James said smiling nervously.

"Hi."

"So, how was the shopping?" James asked.

"Stressful," Lily said with a smile. "It took me for ever to find dress robes. Stupid hair. Sometimes I just can't stand it"

"There's nothing wrong with you're hair," James said confused. "It's a good color on you."

Lily laughed. "Oh I like it most of the time, but sometimes it makes buying clothes a pain. It clashed horribly with certain colors."

"Oh," James didn't quite understand.

Lily laughed again. "It's a girl thing," she said knowingly.

Just then Rosemarta came over with their butter beers.

"James Potter, weren't you in here less than half an hour ago?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah, but I liked it so much I thought I'd come back," he replied grinning.

"I see you have different company though," Rosemarta grinned at him.

"Hi Rosemarta," Lily said smiling.

"Lily, I didn't realize it was you," Rosemarta said, her smiling suddenly growing.

"Has this boy dragged you here against your will? Because if he has, I'll just throw him out?"

Lily laughed at Rosemarta's question. "No, no, I'm simply suffering from a bout of insanity. But it's okay, I don't mind. I can handle him if he gets out of line," Lily replied unable to suppress a laugh.

"Well congratulation, dear," said Rosemarta smiling at James whose neck, to Lily's surprise, turned slightly red.

"I'm glad to see you finally gave him a chance, dear. He really is quite the catch."

It was Lily's turn to blush this time, though she noticed James neck turn a slightly darker red as well.

"Well here are your drinks," Rosemarta said smiling.

James handed over four sickles grinning like a fool.

Rosemarta just laughed as she walked away, mumbling, "Who'd have thought, he actually did it."

James looked rather sheepish and Lily couldn't help but grin.

"So what did you do today?" Lily asked. "Besides come here twice of course."

"Well, Sirius insisted he needed sugar, which I really don't think he does, but oh well, so we went to Honeyduke's. Oh, and I got this for you while we were there, I remember you said you like them," he said pulling the box of chocolates he had bought out of his bag and handing them to her.

"You didn't have to do that," Lily said stunned that he had remembered such a trivial piece of information from one of their first nights of patrol.

James just shrugged.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

James was starting to relax. Everything seemed to be going well. He was having a great time and Lily seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

"He's got to be around here somewhere!" Sirius declared. "It's not like him to just disappear without telling us."

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere Sirius, we'll find him," Remus said sounding like someone dealing with an irrational toddler. Remus had his suspicions about where James had disappeared off to and if he was right he wasn't eager to help Sirius with his mission.

As the three friends walked up the High Street they ran into Marlene and Abby.

"Hey you two!" Sirius called. "Have you seen James anywhere?"

"Lost him have you?" Marlene asked with a grin.

"Yeah, we can't find him anywhere."

Marlene just laughed.

"Do you know where he is?" Sirius asked again slightly annoyed. She seemed to be toying with him. "Come on Marlene."

Marlene continued to grin, but unfortunately her eyes twitched momentarily over towards the Three Broomsticks and even more unfortunately, Sirius saw it. He turned to look at the window.

"Ha! I saw that. But what is he doing at the Three Broomsticks, we already went there…" Sirius trailed off as he looked in the window and saw Lily sitting with James.

The rest of them turned to see what could possibly have made Sirius stop talking.

Remus smiled and Peter looked mildly surprised, but Sirius, being Sirius, had a much more overly dramatic reaction.

He stared at Lily and James through the window and pointed. Then he looked at Remus and Peter with his mouth hanging open and bringing his hand suddenly to his chest and making a gasping noise, pretended to faint. Remus just rolled his eyes at him.

"So," Lily said. "I take it you didn't tell your friends about our date?"

"I…what…did Marlene tell you that?!" James asked suddenly worried. Would she be mad he'd kept it a secret. He thought she wouldn't want it spread all around school that she'd said yes to him.

"Marlene, oh no. I was basing my assumption on the Sirius's reaction," Lily stated pointing out the window.

James turned around just in time to see Sirius fall backwards in a very dramatic fashion. Remus made eye contact with James and gave him an apologetic look. James in turn gave him a look that said, get rid of him, before turning back to Lily.

"I'm really sorry I didn't tell them," James said quickly wanting to explain before she got angry. "I just didn't want them giving you a hard time about it, and by them I mean Sirius. But I couldn't tell Moony, cause then Sirius would be upset that I left him out and he just stopped being mad at me. And I couldn't tell Wormtail cause he might have cracked and told Sirius," James explained.

To James's great relief Lily just laughed at him. "Well, I guess I should appreciate that you risked making your friends angry to try and make me happy. Thanks."

"Eh, they'll get over it. Remus will already have pointed out everything I just said to Sirius before we get back to the castle."

Lily drank the last of her butter beer and smiled. James finished his to and asked, "So would you like to go for a walk around the village or something? We still have some time before we have to go back."

"Sure, that sounds like fun," Lily said.

James looked out the window to make sure his friends were gone and then the two of them left the pub and spent the next hour and a half walking around the village and talking. James had to fight the urge to try and hold Lily's hand the whole time.

They arrived back at the Gryffindor Common Room at about four and James once again had to exercise great restraint to resist the urge to kiss her goodbye. He couldn't rush things and kissing her if she didn't want him to would definitely ruin the day and his plans to ask her to the ball.

"James," Lily started as she went to go up to the girls' dorm to put her new dress robes away.

"Yeah?"

"I had a good time this afternoon, thanks."

James grinned, "Anytime."

Lily smiled at him and ran up the stairs.

With that James turned and bound up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Upon entering he found his friends waiting for him. He was pleased to see they were grinning at him, not looking the least bit angry.

"Prongs, mate," Sirius said as soon as James entered, "how'd you do it?"

"I won her over with my natural charm," James replied.

All four boys burst out laughing.

"So, was it everything you dreamed of," Remus asked with a laugh as James flopped down on his four poster bed.

"Better," James replied grinning.

"Did you kiss her?" Peter asked.

"Nope, didn't even hold her hand," James replied still grinning.

"You didn't even hold her hand?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Nope, this was a trial date, I didn't want to do anything that would risk making her angry. I wanted to show her that I'm not such a bad guy. Hopefully, she'll agree to go to the Halloween Ball with me."

"Does it look like the ball will be any good?" Remus asked.

"Oh yeah, should be great," James said. "Lily and I have been helping McGonagall and Dumbledore plan it. They wanted are opinion on music and stuff."

"Will there be good music?" Sirius asked grinning.

"Yeah, we're getting a band, it should be excellent."

"Which band?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"You'll just have to wait and see," James said grinning.

"I hate you, you know that right?" Sirius asked sulking.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, mate," James replied grinning.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Is it time for dinner yet?"

"Almost," Remus replied.

"Hey guys," Lily said as she entered the dormitory smiling happily.

"I take it your date went well?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah, actually it did, he was really sweet, surprisingly enough."

"This is what we've been telling you for years, took you long enough to figure it out," Katie said with a look of superiority on her face.

"Oh shut-up," Lily said sticking her tongue out at her friend.

"So, are you going to go to the Halloween Ball with him?" Katie asked.

"He hasn't even asked me yet," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"But he will," Marlene said knowingly. "He just wanted you to see that he's not such a bad date before he asked you to the ball. So when he asks what will you say?"

"I don't know," Lily shrugged. "I mean sure I had fun, but still…"

"Still what?" Katie asked giving Lily a look that clearly said, 'your mad.'

"I don't know," Lily tried to put what she was feeling into words. "It's just weird is all. I mean its James."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, denial is not healthy," Katie responded.

"I'm not in denial. I'm just not sure I want to go out with him again is all," Lily said. Somewhere in the back of her mind Lily knew she was lying. She really wanted to go to the ball with James, but she was stubborn and she wouldn't let herself admit it.

"Uhu," Katie replied.

"So, speaking of the ball," Abby inserted, "should we expect to enjoy it?"

"Oh yeah, should be a great time. James and I have been helping McGonagle and Dumbledore plan it."

"Wait, how long have you known about the ball?" Marlene asked.

"Since we got back to school. James and I weren't sure if we were allowed to tell so we didn't say anything. I was surprised that you guys didn't ask about it sooner though after McGonagall asked James and I to meet her to discuss Halloween in front of you."

"Oh is that what she was talking about? I just figured she was talking about decorating for the feast or something."

Katie nodded in agreement.

"You didn't think it was odd that she wanted to talk to us about the Halloween feast in the beginning of September?"

"She said she was busy, we figured she was just worried about finding the time later to talk to you about it."

Lily just laughed.

"Well it should be fun."

"I hope the music is good," Marcie said.

"Oh, don't worry, it will be excellent," Lily said knowingly.

"As long as Filch isn't D.J.ing," Katie said with a laugh. "He's not right?!"

Lily laughed again. "No Dumbledore has booked a band."

"A good one," Katie asked curiously.

"They're decent," Lily replied carefully.

"Who is it?" Marcie asked.

"Oh, I can't tell you that would spoil the surprise."

"Come on Lily," Katie begged.

But Lily just smiled at them.

The girls spent the rest of the time until dinner and a good bit of time afterwards trying to get Lily to tell whom the band would be, but it was trying to get concrete facts from J.K. Rowling. Eventually they had to concede to the fact that Lily would simply not tell them; she wouldn't even give them a tantalizing hint. She just grinned and said, "You'll see."


	15. What Am I Evering Going to Need

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nor do I have any money, so please don't sue.

Chapter 15 What am I ever gonna need Transfiguration for Anyway?

Since Lily had gotten absolutely nothing done on Saturday her Sunday was dedicated to doing homework. She was still struggling in Transfiguration so much of the afternoon was dedicated to trying to figure it all out, however, when she went to bed that night she really didn't feel as though she had retained any of it.

Monday morning started out fine for Lily with Double Potions where she performed brilliantly as always, it took a sharp downwards turn at the end of Transfiguration, however. Lily was putting her things away and talking to Katie and Marlene about what they thought they would be eating for lunch when Professor McGonagall called her name.

"Miss Evans, could you stay behind I'd like to speak with you for a minute."

Lily sighed discretely; she really was rather hungry.

"Do you want us to wait for you, Lily?" Marlene asked.

"No, go on ahead, no reason for all three of us to starve, I'll meet you in the Great Hall."

Lily went up to McGonagall's desk as the rest of the class filed out of the room on their way to lunch. Lily was slightly confused, why hadn't she asked James to stay after too…

"Miss Evans, is everything all right? Are you having any problems at home or with your friends?" Professor McGonagall asked concern evident in her voice.

Now Lily was really confused, she was fine, why would McGonagall think something was wrong?

"No Professor, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Lily asked sounding as bewildered as she felt.

"Well, I was grading the tests that I gave your class last week and I must say I was very surprised by your score and I find that when things like this happen, the student is often having some sort of difficulty in their personal life. I've been slightly concerned with your work this whole semester, but I thought I'd let you try and work it out yourself, but after grading your test, well, I felt it was time I stepped in."

Lily just stared at Professor McGonagall, sure she was having a bit of trouble with Transfiguration, but she couldn't be doing that badly. Sensing Lily's confusion Professor McGonagall riffled through her the papers on her desk and took out Lily's Transfiguration exam. Lily just stared at it after Professor McGonagall handed it to her.

A **D** she'd never gotten below an E, on anything! Well except that one essay in DADA, but even then it had only been an A and it wasn't her fault. James had been harassing her at the time and she had simply forgotten to finish it out of sheer frustration.

Lily stared at Professor McGonagall, "I'll do better I swear. I've just gotten this block on human transfiguration into other species, but I think I'm starting to understand it now…"

Professor McGonagall cut her off, "I suggest that you find another student to help you, perhaps Mr. Potter. If that doesn't work come back and talk to me, I'd simply take you on myself, but I'm rather busy at the moment and I think it might help if someone else besides myself explained it to you."

Lily nodded mutely and tried to hand her test back to McGonagall.

"No, no, you hold onto it. I'm going to give them back tomorrow anyway. I have almost finished grading them and I've already recorded the grades of the ones I've corrected. Having the test will help you to begin studying tonight by allowing you to see the aspects that you are having the most difficulty with."

Lily nodded mutely and put the test in the bottom of her bag before heading off to the Great Hall for lunch.

"What did McGonagall want?" Katie asked as Lily sat down.

"Huh?" Lily said snapping out of her trance.

"Professor McGonagall what did she want?"

"Oh, nothing, just stuff about the dance."

James looked at her oddly.

"James, do you think we could meet later in the Head's Common room and I can tell you about what McGonagall and I talked about?"

James nodded still looking slightly confused. Lily couldn't blame him. She realized it made absolutely no sense for McGonagall to keep her after class to discuss the ball and not James. To his credit though, James didn't mention this fact, he just nodded his head and asked, "Is eight ok for you? I've got Quidditch Practice from six to seven thirty and I'd like to take a shower afterward, as Quidditch in the rain tends to make one both muddy and smelly."

Lily nodded it was indeed raining quite hard outside. She was suddenly very glad that she wasn't on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Later that evening Lily found herself pacing in the Head's Common Room. She had only been in here once before, it was really quite spectacular. It was decorated in a red and gold theme with a couple of comfy couches and armchairs place around the fire. Lily had spent the past several hours in the Head's Common room alternatively trying to do her homework and pacing. She had never failed a class, ever, not even when she was in primary school.

James came in promptly at eight, causing Lily to literally jump in the air from surprise.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," James said. He looked at her more closely and she saw a look of concern in his eyes. "Are you ok? Does this have to do with McGonagall talking to you? I know you said it had to do with stuff for the Halloween Ball, but if that were true she would have had me stay after too," James said this last part rather cautiously.

Lily nodded mutely. Upon discovering that she couldn't bring herself to speak she reached into her bad and pulled out her test.

"What's that?" James asked curiously.

Finally finding her voice Lily said, "Don't you dare laugh." She then glared at him angrily as though he already had, slowly extending her hand holding the papers towards James.

He reached out and took them from her trembling hand. He looked down at the papers in his hand and his eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he didn't laugh or gloat, he didn't even admonish Lily for not asking for his help sooner.

"I could help you if you'd like," he said quietly.

Lily just nodded and sat down pulling out her Transfiguration book and notes.

"Where would you like to start?" James asked.

"Don't you dare tell anyone!" Lily snapped suddenly.

"I won't, I promise," James said in what Lily had come to learn was his serious voice.

"How about the beginning?" Lily asked.

"Ok," said James. "The trick…"

Two hours later James and Lily emerged from the Head's Common Room. Not to head back to Gryffindor Tower but to start their patrol. They had left their books and things in the Head's Room having decided it would be easier to pick them up at the end of their patrol then to lug their heavy bags around with them.

Lily was feeling marginally better. While she still didn't understand everything they were learning in Transfiguration she at least now understood the basics of human Transfiguration. James was actually quite a good tutor, much to Lily's surprise.

"Thanks, James," Lily said quietly after ten minutes of silent patrol.

"No problem," James replied, "and don't worry, I won't tell a soul, not even McGonagall. Mad Hungarian Horntails couldn't drag it out of me."

Lily just smiled at him.

A couple of nights later found James sprinting up to the Gryffindor Common, even with all the short cuts he knew, he was going to be late. Quidditch had run over and even though he had showered and changed as quickly as he could he was cutting it close. He ran as quickly as his feet could carry him skidding to a halt in front of the Fat Lady.

"Well aren't we in a hurry," she grinned. He hated it when she did that.

"Quaffle, quaffle," James repeated hurriedly trying to get her to open up faster.

He clambered into the Common Room and looked at the clock, 9: 03, bloody hell he was late. He saw Lily heading towards him.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he said still trying to catch his breath. "Practice ran a bit over, won't happen again, I swear."

"Did you run here?" Lily asked.

James just nodded, still trying to catch his breath.

"Well, as long as we win the Quidditch Cup I suppose I can forgive you," Lily said grinning. "Now lets get going."

James smiled and followed her. He couldn't believe she wasn't mad. True he had only been three minutes late, but he knew that Lily liked to be punctual.

Inspired by her lack of anger at his lateness, James decided to carefully bring up a subject he'd been keen on discussing with her, the possibility of her going to the Halloween Ball with him.

"So," he began. "I just wanted to say thank you again, for agreeing to go to Hogsmeade with me last Saturday. I had a wonderful time."

Lily smiled at him. "Well, thank you for inviting me. I had a good time too."

James smiled at this. "I was wondering…" James began slowly. "Would you like to go to the Halloween Ball with me. I mean we have to open the ball with a dance anyways…"

James looked at her nervously.

Inside Lily's head a bitter battle began to rage. On the one hand she had had a wonderful time with James on Saturday but it was just one date. She didn't want a relationship with James Potter; she was just being nice. 'Liar,' the part of her brain that she was trying desperately to suppress cried. Lily didn't know what to do, she didn't want to say no, but she couldn't bring herself to say yes.

"I'll have to think about it," she found herself saying. 'Well at least you didn't screw it up completely by saying no,' she found herself thinking and promptly tried to push the thought down. She did not like James Potter she did not.

"Um, ok…take your time…I can wait," James said self-consciously.

The rest of the night past in awkward silence intermixed with forced and meaningless conversation about things like the weather and what they would be serving for breakfast the next day, even though the breakfast menu was always the same during the week.

When they got back to the Common Room Lily rushed quickly up to the girl's dorm wanting to escape the awkwardness. James on the other hand walked slowly up the stairs to the boy's dorm, not really wanting to think too much about what had transpired that night.

Lily walked into her dorm and collapsed onto her bed. She was emotionally exhausted.

"Lily are you okay?" Marlene asked.

"No," Lily replied grabbing her pillow and hiding her face. She didn't really want to deal with her friends right now.

"What happened?" Marlene asked slightly concerned.

"James asked me to go to the Halloween Ball with him," Lily groaned.

"You didn't say no, did you?" Marlene asked.

"Well, not exactly…"

"What do you mean, 'not exactly?'" Marlene asked.

Lily pulled the pillow off of her head. "I told him I'd think about it."

"You prat!" Katie put in.

"All that poor boy wants is for you to go out with him and its sooooo obvious that you like him. I was hoping by now it would have sunk in. But you can't live in denial land forever. Someday you'll have to accept that fact that you like him. Hopefully you'll realize it before he finds someone else," Katie added.

"I do not like James," Lily snapped and with that she changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed.

James climbed slowly up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. He walked in and collapsed, face first, onto his bed.

"Damn it!" he screamed into his pillow.

"Mate, what's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"Lily…" James replied rolling onto his back.

"What happened?" Remus asked sounding much more sympathetic than Sirius.

"I asked her to go with me to the Halloween Ball," James sighed.

"I take it she said no?" Remus asked gently.

"Well no…" he said slowly. "But she didn't say yes either," he added quickly before Remus had time to express his confusion.

"She told me she'd 'think about it," James said the last part in a somewhat bitter and mocking tone.

"Well, that's a start…" Remus said hesitantly.

"She said she'd _think about it_?" Sirius asked incredulously. "I say forget her ask someone else. Maybe it'll make her jealous and she'll come running to your arms. Or maybe you'll find someone better. Personally I'd go with option number two, mate. No girl can be worth this much frustration," Sirius said this as if it settled the matter.

"Ignore him," Remus said bluntly. "Asking another girl to the ball right after you asked Lily would be the stupidest thing you could do. It would simply prove that she was right, that you're only interested in her because she's a challenge."

"But I don't want to go out with her just because she's a challenge. I want to go out with her because I like her," James exclaimed in frustration.

"I know that, but you need to prove that to her and asking some other girl isn't going to convince her of that."

"I wasn't going to take his advice anyway," James replied.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!" Sirius tried to interject. James and Remus ignored him, however, and continued their conversation as though they hadn't been interrupted.

"My advice for now is to be patient. If you are too forceful she will simply get angry and refuse to go with you. Give her time and try and act normal, or as normal as it's possible for you to be, around her. I'm sure she'll come around shortly. I'm pretty sure she likes you, I think she's just confused about her feelings."

James nodded, knowing that Moony was usually right in situations like this.

Feeling only marginally better James got ready for bed. His mother said that things always look better in the morning.

A/N: I would just like to take this time to thank all of my reviewers! I appreciate your comments and input. To everyone else you know the drill please read and review.


	16. Awkardness, Tension, and Ducks

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 16 Awkwardness, Tension, and Ducks

James's was now beginning to question his mother's sanity. It was several mornings later and things still didn't look any better from where he sat. It wasn't the having to wait for her to make up her mind that bothered him. He'd waited for years what was another week or two. The awkwardness, on the other hand, was driving him mad! He had really been enjoying the fact that he and Lily had been getting along, but Merlin, he preferred when she could barely stand the sight of him to the tension that currently existed between them. It wasn't as bad when they could avoid each other, but the couple of times that they had been in close proximity over the past couple of days had been miserable.

Unfortunately it was now 8: 50 on Thursday night. That meant that in ten minutes time James and Lily's scheduled _two-hour_ patrol would start. Sighing James resolved that he would try and find a way to lessen the tension the two of them were currently experiencing. Besides the fact that he would probably go mad and require an extended stay in the closed ward at St. Mungo's if this lasted much longer, he was also worried that it would negatively effect Lily's decision making, resulting in her rejection of him once more.

Glancing up at the clock again he saw that it was time to head down to the Common Room to meet Lily. Groaning miserably he rolled out of his bed, grabbed his wand off of his nightstand, and headed out the door.

"Good luck, Prongs!" Sirius called cheerfully.

James didn't even bother to roll his eyes. He needed to save his energy for the next two hours.

Lily was waiting for him near the portrait hole. Looking at her James noticed that she looked every bit the calm cool collect Head Girl. How did she do it? He knew the tension had to be getting to her too.

"Hi," he said trying to sound casual. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, lets get this over with," Lily replied turning quickly and heading out of the Common Room with James following behind.

The first ten minutes passed by in awkward silence. Finally James couldn't take it any more. He searched desperately for a topic that didn't involve the ball. Finally, he decided on Transfiguration. He wasn't sure it was the safest subject, but he knew that grades were important to Lily and he hoped her desire to do well would overcome the awkwardness.

"So, how's Transfiguration coming?" he asked nervously.

"Better, sort of," Lily replied.

Inwardly James sighed. She wasn't going to explode at him.

"Do you think we could go over it a bit more sometime soon though. I definitely understood more of what McGonagall was talking about today, but I still couldn't get Katie to turn into a duck."

"Sure," James answered smiling slightly. Much to his surprise he could almost feel the awkwardness ease a bit. "Do you have time on Saturday, I have Quidditch practice at three but any time before that is fine with me."

"How about after lunch?"

"Alright, it's…sounds like a good plan," James cursed inwardly hoping Lily hadn't noticed his falter. He had almost said, 'it's a date.' He didn't mean it that way, but he was fairly certain she wouldn't have believed him. He would not screw this up, he would not.

Things were much less awkward after that. There was definitely still some tension remaining but it was much more bearable now. The remainder of their patrol was spent talking about unimportant things, such as whether or not McGonagall and Dumbledore were secretly in love and the possibility that the current DADA teacher would last more than one year. Although they couldn't come to a consensus on the former they both agreed that the latter would never happen.

It was Friday afternoon and Lily had a free period. Unfortunately she was not spending her time relaxing. Instead she was hold up in the library trying to get some of her homework out of the way. She was currently engrossed in her Potion's essay on Felix Felicis when she heard footsteps as someone approached. She looked up and was slightly surprised, but not disappointed, to see Remus heading towards her.

"Hey, Remus," Lily said smiling.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Not at all, what brings you here?"

"The need for a quiet place to do my homework," Remus replied laughing. "I certainly am not going to find that in Gryffindor tower."

"But almost everyone is in class," Lily said now confused.

"Not true," Remus grinned. "Sirius is in Gryffindor Tower. And when Sirius is around things are rarely quiet. Even when he's doing actual work."

"I still think you're lying about Sirius actually doing work," Lily said looking at Remus skeptically.

"No, no, it's true. He and James just don't usually do their homework in public. They even studied for their O.W.L.'s though I doubt you'd ever get Sirius to admit it. Though _you_ might be able to get James to admit it," Remus said grinning deviously.

Lily sighed, "I don't want to talk about it." Of course that's why he was here, to try and convince her to go to the ball with James.

"I have no intentions of discussing it. You are the one who brought it up," Remus said pulling his DADA book out of his bag.

"You're sure he isn't just after me because I won't go out with him?" Lily asked quietly.

"Positive," Remus replied. "But I thought you didn't want to talk about it?"

"I don't," Lily said quickly and began to look something up in her Potion's book or at least she pretended to.

The ball was all she had been able to think about all week. She had spent so many years not being able to stand James. She just couldn't accept that he really was interested in her and not just getting her to go out with him.

"Besides," said Remus suddenly. "If he were only interested in getting you to agree to go out with him, he wouldn't have asked you to the ball after you agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him."

With that Remus set to work, not saying another word on the matter.

Lily forced herself to focus on her Potion's essay, though her mind kept wandering back to James causing it to take her much longer to finish her essay then it normally would have.

What if he really has changed? What if he really is interested in her and not just to prove that he could get her…She was so confused she didn't know what to do. She had to admit she really did like this new James. But what if it was all just an act to get her. It certainly was an impressive act if that were true. But what if? She didn't want to be hurt. Even as she thought this she heard her mothers voice, 'Worrying about the what ifs will get you no where. Sometimes you have to suck it up, take the plunge, and just let what happens happen. Otherwise you might spend the rest of you life wondering 'what would have happened if' and that's much worse.'

Lily heard the bell ring in the hallway and sighed. She performed a drying spell on her essay and then rolled it up, putting her things in her bag. Remus cleaned up his things too and the two of them headed towards the Great Hall for dinner.

The next day Lily was sitting in the Great Hall with Katie, Marlene, and Abby when the Marauders arrived. The girls halted their conversation as the boys approached.

"We still on for our meeting after lunch Lily?" James asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright, I'll meet you in the Heads Common room as soon as I'm finished eating then."

"Okay."

James then led his friends to the other end of the table away from the girls. He would be spending time alone with Lily soon enough, he reminded himself. He should give her some space, crowding her would just annoy her, it would not help.

"Are you to dating secretly?" Katie asked with a mischievous grin on her face. "And your refusing to go to the ball with him is just a clever rues to throw us off."

"No!" Lily exclaimed in a whisper.

"You really should just give in Lily," Marlene said reasonably. "We know you like him, you know you like, there's no shame in it."

"I'm not ashamed, I'm not even sure that I like him."

"Well," said Abby, "All the more reason to go to the ball with him. It'll help you realize that you do."

"So if you're not having a secret torrid affair what are you meeting him in _the Head's Common Room _for?" Katie asked still grinning.

"So we can get our work done without being distracted by his friends…or mine," Lily said in a serious tone.

Lily's friends all grinned at her. Why wouldn't they just let it go? How could they be so sure James really liked her and wasn't just in it for the chase. They could all be wrong…couldn't they? Lily sighed inwardly and continued to eat her lunch.

Half an hour later found Lily and James in the Head's Common Room organizing their notes for their study session.

"Thanks for not telling anyone why we're here," Lily said suddenly.

"No problem, you asked me not to, I understand why, I wouldn't betray your trust by blabbing," James said with a shrug as if it were nothing. Inwardly, however, he was frustrated that she still didn't trust him. He didn't know what else he could do to prove it and part of him didn't think he should have to. If she couldn't see it, well, that was her own fault.

"So last time we talked a bit about theory. Do you want to do any more with that or would you like to do some spells?" James asked.

"I think I understand the basics of the theory," Lily responded. "You explained them pretty well."

"Okay then. Let's start out with some of the stuff we were doing at the end of last year. I know it's review, but it's the set up for using the more advanced theory we're practicing this year and looking at what we've done previously really helps to make what we're doing now more clear."

"Alright, I guess," Lily said. Slightly annoyed that James didn't think she was capable of moving right into what they were currently working on, but she didn't want to make him angry and having him go blabbing that she sucked at Transfigurations. She still wasn't sure she could trust him. She knew it wasn't entirely fair for her to think that. He'd given no indication that he wasn't since they found out they would be Head Boy and Girl together, but she had spent six years not trusting him and old habits are hard to break.

James and Lily spent about forty-five minutes going over spells from the end of sixth year. Lily was surprised to find that James had been right. As they had gone over each of the spells from the end of last year, bits and pieces of what they had learned last year continued to click.

"Okay, I think you've got it," James said grinning.

Lily smiled too, in spite of herself.

"You ready to try and turn me into a duck?" James asked grinning.

"What if I screw it up?" Lily asked nervously.

"Never happen, I have faith in you," James replied. "You understand the theory. Now you just have to concentrate and have confidence, just like with flying."

"What does flying have to do with Transfiguration?" Lily asked confused and slightly annoyed.

"Concentration and confidence are important. Broom won't cooperate otherwise. Same thing with Transfiguration," James replied as if the connection made perfect sense.

"If you say so," Lily said skeptically.

"Now turn me into a duck," James said in such a serious tone that Lily couldn't help but laugh.

James grinned at her, "Well?"

Lily rolled her eyes, waved and flicked her wand while thinking the incantation. To her great surprise there was a flash of light and a duck had suddenly replaced James Potter.

"I did it! I did it!" Lily yelled excitedly.

James quacked in approval. Lily continued to gibber excitedly when she was interrupted by a particularly loud quack from James the duck.

"Oh, sorry," Lily said laughing and performing the spell to change James back.

Nothing happened. James looked at her and quacked again.

This time Lily tried saying the spell. James the duck continued to stare at her. She kept this up for several minutes before James started to jab his bill in the direction of the clock. It was 2: 40. James had Quidditch practice in exactly 20 minutes.

Lily looked at James worriedly and decided she had no choice. She scooped him up and hurried off to the Transfiguration wing and McGonagall's office.

Lily knocked on the door hesitantly.

"Come in," McGonagall replied.

"Um, Professor, um," Lily faltered.

"Yes, Miss Evans? What do you need?" McGonagall asked in her usual stern tone.

"Well, you see Professor," Lily began walking into the room. She held out the James duck to show Professor McGonagall.

"I had no problems changing him into a duck, but then I went to change him back and well, he's still a duck. And I couldn't ask him what I was doing wrong cause he's a duck! And he's got Quidditch practice in 10 minutes...

"Miss Evans..."

"...and he can't hold a quaffle as a duck!"

"Miss Evans..."

"Sure he wouldn't need a broom I suppose, but if a bludger hit him…"

"Lily," Professor McGonagall said loudly, but gently.

Lily stopped abruptly. Never had she heard McGonagall refer to a student by their first name.

"It's ok. Put him on the floor. I'll put him right."

Lily nodded sheepishly and put James on the ground. He looked up at McGonagall and quacked.

McGonagall smiled at him and waved her wand. In a flash James was standing in front of them again.

Lily avoided his gaze guiltily. "James, I'm so sorry…I"

"It's okay. No harm done," James replied flashing Lily a smile that could melt the heart of any other girl at Hogwarts and for the first time Lily felt her heart melt slightly.

"Thanks, Professor. But I have to run, I'm going to be late."

With that James took off. He practically ran towards the pitch. He still had to stop in the Head's Common Room and grab his things, even with all his shortcuts he was going to be late. Oh well, he'd just tell them they had ended up having to talk with McGonagall about some stuff for the ball and they had run a bit over.

A/N: I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been reviewing my story. I hope you're all still enjoying it. Please click on the little grey/blue box in the left hand corner and review!


	17. Chapter 17 Should I?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I still have no money for you to take. Besides JKR is the only billionaire author, she's richer than the Queen, what does she need my hard earned money for.

Chapter 17 Should I?

Lily went up to her dorm and was glad to find it empty. She collapsed on her bed and stared at the ceiling. What had just happened? She was immune to James's smile she'd spent years training herself to be so. Lily couldn't take the silence. She flicked her wand a few times and the record player the girls had began to play.

Apparently whoever had been using it last had been listening to one of Lily's records because The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" started to play. As she lay on her bed listening she couldn't help but think about James. He did have something…she couldn't deny it any longer, she Lily Evans…_liked James Potter._

She sighed. Knowing what she wanted to do, but not sure if she could bring herself to do it. It had been easier when she couldn't stand him. How could he do this to her damn it! This was all Dumbledore's fault. Yes, that was it, he was to blame. He chose James as Head Boy, forcing her to work with him! Forcing her to see that he wasn't the arrogant prat that she thought. If it weren't for Dumbledore…okay clearly she was losing her mind. She was blaming Dumbledore for her feelings for James. She needed a distraction. With that she got up and grabbing her homework, headed for the Library.

Lily skipped dinner that night. She couldn't be in the same room with James at the moment. Her emotions were too muddled and she was sure that if he even looked at her she'd blush, mostly because just thinking about the way he'd smiled at her earlier and her reaction made her blush. She was hungry, however, so she sneaked down to the kitchens to grab a bite to eat. James had showed her how to get there one night on one of their nightly patrols when she had been hungry.

"Here you are Miss," one of the elves said as they brought her a plate of steak and kidney pie and some pumpkin juice.

Lily wasn't sure how she felt about house elves. She couldn't deny that they certainly seemed happy, but part of her couldn't help feeling uncomfortable at the thought. When she had asked James about it he had said that setting most house elves free would traumatize them to no end. Plus most wizards treated their house elves perfectly nicely. Lily couldn't deny the Hogwarts house elves seemed very well cared for. 'Oh well, too much serious thought, I might go mad.'

Monday afternoon found Lily in the library once again. She had not been nearly as productive yesterday as she would have liked and the homework just kept pilling up. She wanted to get some of it done now because she had patrol later with James so she wouldn't have a lot of time after dinner to work on it. Plus her mind kept wandering to a certain messy haired Head Boy and it was taking her a bit longer to do her work than it normally did.

At nine o'clock on the dot Lily met James at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You ready?" James asked.

"Of course."

"Well then let's go."

"James," Lily began once they were out of earshot of the portrait hole.

"Yes, Lily?" James asked. Had she made a decision?

"I, well, I just wanted to…say I'm sorry about yesterday?"

"Huh?" James asked confused.

"The whole turning you into a duck thing and not being able to turn you back," Lily explained.

"Oh…don't worry about it. It's not like you did it on purpose," James replied grinning at the memory.

"Well, I wanted to apologize anyway."

"If it makes you feel better then I will except your apology," James said flashing her that heart-melting smile of his.

'Just do it. Say you'll go with him,' the voice in Lily's head demanded.

"Also if you'd like to have another study session I'm free tomorrow. If tomorrow isn't good we can try to find another day, but I have Quidditch practice Wednesday and Thursday and the guys and I have plans for Friday."

"Tomorrow sounds fine," Lily replied smiling.

"Good. We'll go over untransfiguring people," James said with a grin. "So how are things going, other than Transfiguration?" James asked.

"Pretty well. I got a letter from my Mum the other day."

"How'd she send you a letter, I thought you didn't have an owl?" James asked confused

"Oh, I sent her one with one of the school owls and she sent me a reply with it," Lily explained.

"Ah. So anything exciting going on at home?"

"Nope, Petunia's still engaged, thank Merlin, and so she and Mum are deeply engrossed in wedding plans."

"Why were you worried Petunia wouldn't be engaged anymore," James replied curiously.

"Well, I was afraid after the owl incident that Vernon, her fiancé, might break their engagement, but I guess Petunia must have convinced Vernon that she has no interest in a 'freak like me.'"

"I still can't believe she thinks you're a freak!" James said his frustration evident. "Owl, incident?" James added.

"Well," Lily began chuckling. "Do you remember when you sent me that letter the day before term started?"

"Yeah…" James responded suddenly nervous.

"Well, Vernon was there when Merlin showed up you see. And he wanted to know what the bloody hell it was doing there. So, Petunia was forced to tell him the truth. Of course he thought we were all barking mad so I smashed the nearest vase and then repaired it to show him that I really was a witch. And then he left, telling Petunia that he would pick her up for dinner. But I won't deny I thought he might break it off with her. Which wouldn't really have been a great loss to be honest, but Petunia wouldn't have seen it that way."

"Oh…I'm really sorry…I" he stuttered.

Lily laughed, "It's okay. It's not your fault. You didn't know. Besides, the look on his face was priceless."

James smiled. He loved Lily's laugh.

They passed the rest of the patrol with pleasant conversation interrupted only twice, once by Peeves sticking gum in all the locks of all the rooms on the fifth floor and once by a couple of Ravenclaw sixth years they found in the Entrance Hall broom closet.

"Really," James admonished them. "The Entrance Hall broom closet. You should find a better hiding place next time."

Lily, however, although she appeared calm and collect on the outside was having a raging battle with herself. Should she go with him? She liked him; it was stupid to deny it. Everyone said he really liked her and he was so easy to talk to. In some ways he was even easier to talk to than Marlene and Katie. But he had always been such an arrogant prat and she'd sworn back in fifth year that she would never go out with him…

As they approached the portrait Lily turned to James.

"Um, James," she began.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I've made a decision, about you're wanting me to go to the ball with you."

"Oh, um okay," James said nervously. His stomach suddenly felt like he had eaten very hyperactive butterflies.

She was silent for several moments; she couldn't look at him…

"Well…" he asked quietly.

A/N: Ah cliffhangers…


	18. Chapter 18 Well

Well, here you go, the not so long awaited answer...

Chapter 18 Well??

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, but if I did he'd live happily ever to a ripe old age with Ginny and they'd have copious amounts of grandchildren. Unfortunately, however, J.K. Rowling owns Harry and while she is a wonderful person, when it comes to Harry she is annoyingly realistic and pessimistic.

_Previously in Chapter 17_

"_Um, James," she began._

"_Yeah?" he asked._

"_I've made a decision, about you're wanting me to go to the ball with you."_

"_Oh, um okay," James said nervously. His stomach suddenly felt like he had eaten very active butterflies. _

_She was silent for several moments, she couldn't look at him…_

"_Well…" he asked quietly._

Chapter 18 Well??

"Boggart, yes."

With that Lily climbed quickly through the portrait hole and bound up to the girl's dormitory. James stood outside for almost a full minute, still not sure he had heard her right.

"Well," the voice of the Fat Lady snapped him out of his reverie. "Are you just gonna stand there for the rest of eternity or are you going to go tell those ridiculous friends of yours that Lily Evans just agreed to go to the ball with you?" she asked impatiently.

James grinned at her and entered the Gryffindor Common Room. The other Marauders were not there so James made his way up to their dormitory, still somewhat dazed. He had been convinced that she would say 'no.' In fact, until the Fat Lady had confirmed that she too had heard Lily say yes, James had been afraid to believe it was true.

Lily walked into her dormitory and found that she couldn't stop smiling. She was going to the Halloween Ball with James Potter. Now there was something she never thought she'd say. If you'd told her three months ago that she'd being going with him _and_ that she'd be happy about it she would have recommended a trip to St. Mungo's. Now, however, she found she couldn't wait.

"And what are we all smiley about?" Katie asked innocently.

"I just told James I'd go to the ball with him," Lily said unable to keep the grin off her face.

"Ha!" Katie proclaimed.

All the girls laughed, even Lily. "Okay, so maybe I like him a little bit," Lily confessed blushing.

"Congratulations, Lily," Abby said while Marcie and Marlene nodded in agreement.

Lily just smiled and blushed slightly. She couldn't believe how excited she felt. She'd been on plenty of dates but she could never remember being this excited about one. 'What's wrong with me?' Lily wondered.

"So what are we going to do with your hair?" Marlene asked.

"Huh?" Lily asked. "Why are we doing things to my hair?"

"For the dance, stupid," Marlene exclaimed.

With that the girls launched into a discussion, not only about what to do with Lily's hair but what to do with the rest of their hair as well.

James couldn't stop grinning. He walked into the boy's dormitory and flopped onto his bed.

"Prongs, mate, you alright?" Sirius asked offhandedly not looking up from his Herbology essay that was due the next morning.

"Excellent," James replied. He tried to make it sound nonchalant but the excitement in his voice was evident.

"I take it she said 'yes'?" Remus asked glancing up from his Ancient Runes translation.

"Yup," James said grinning.

"Two dates with Evans in one month, that is impressive," Sirius responded grinning. "You didn't give her a love potion did you," Sirius asked trying to sound innocent.

"I would never do that!" James exlaimed annoyed, sitting up quickly. "That would be totally wrong! I don't want to force her to go out with me, I want her to like me!"

"Easy, mate, I was only joking," Sirius said grinning cheekily.

"So she said yes?" Remus interjected before a fight could start.

"Yeah," James said grinning.

"Anything else?"

"Boggart," James replied.

"Huh?" Remus asked confused.

"Well, she said she had made a decision about the dance, and then she hesitated, so I asked, 'well?' And then she was like 'boggart, yes' and bound up to the girl's dorm."

"Boggart?" Sirius asked again.

"It's the password to get in," Peter pointed out.

"Oh, so she said yes and ran away?" Sirius asked laughing.

"Sod off, Sirius," James grumbled.

Sirius stopped laughing at once, sudden reversion to actual first names, particularly when it was just the four of them meant something was serious.

"Sorry," Sirius said.

"Accepted," James replied.

"So," Sirius asked, "what band did you guys get?"

"Not telling," James responded pulling out his Potions homework. He knew it would be difficult to concentrate with images of him and Lily at the ball floating through his head, but he had to tutor Lily in Transfiguration tomorrow and then he had Quidditch practice for the rest of the week. So, unless he wanted to go without sleep for the rest of the week he needed to get some of his work out of the way.

The next two weeks passed by rather quickly. Lily and her friends continued to discuss plans for the ball. All the girls now had dates for the ball as had the boys. Lily was please to find she was now able to understand what they were talking about in Transfigurations and she could now untransfigure James when she turned him into a duck. She got her latest essay back and was pleased to see that she had earned an E. Both Lily and James were still being harassed by their friends to tell who would be playing at the Ball and both were still being as vague as JKR when you ask her if Snape is good or evil.


	19. Chapter 19 The Halloween Ball

Chapter 19 The Halloween Ball

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does, yadda, yadda, yadda. Surprisingly enough, I also don't own Magic Carpet Ride, nor do the Weird Sisters, neither JKR's nor the group from Canada, Magic Carpet Ride belongs to Steppenwolf. I merely chose it for the Magic Carpet reference.

A/N: Well here it is…the moment you've all been waiting for! Well, not really, but it's a step in the right direction I suppose.

At long last it was Saturday. Lily woke up around ten o'clock. She was glad to have been able to sleep in, as she knew she would be up late that night. The ball was scheduled to last until midnight, but James and Lily had to help clean up and make sure everyone made it back to their dorms and didn't just move the party to a nice quiet broom closet.

Lily stretched and got up to go take a shower. She was glad that she had gotten her homework done during the week. Sure it hadn't been much fun being hold up in the Library every night from dinner till curfew, including last night, but at least she would be able to completely enjoy the weekend without the worry of homework hanging over her head. Also, she was already feeling a bit of nervous excitement and she was fairly certain that if she had homework to do, there would be no way she could possibly concentrate today.

Lily was once again amazed at just how much she was anticipating her date with James. She really had enjoyed the short time they'd spent at Hogsmeade together. He had been so sweet. She hoped that this date would be as good as the last one.

Up in the boy's dorm James was also starting to feel nervous. He too was also glad that all his homework was already finished. Unlike Lily, however, this was actually fairly typical. James was usually on top of his homework when he had good reason to be. This was just a fact that he didn't really share with others. He loathed homework and so he tried to get it done as quickly as possible so that he could, "enjoy the finer things in life," as he always told Remus. After all, smart though he may be, and though he thought homework to be a complete waste of time, teachers saw it as important and he found that whether or not it was done had a great effect on the grades that found there way to his parents at the end of each term. So do homework he did, he just didn't let anyone see him doing it.

At ten thirty he gave up on sleeping any longer and went to take a shower. By the time he had finished Remus and Peter were both awake, though Sirius was still sound asleep. As Sirius was only ever quiet when he was asleep, if you ignored the snoring, and James didn't feel like being teased mercilessly about the fact that he was going to the with Lily dance James left him that way.

The three boys headed down to the Common Room to play some Exploding Snap until it was time for lunch. They silently agreed that they would only wake Sirius up if he wasn't awake in time for lunch. He wouldn't care about missing Exploding Snap, he'd rather sleep, but if they let him miss lunch, he'd be miserable.

About ten minutes before it was time for lunch Sirius joined them. James was glad because it gave him an excuse to stop playing. He was feeling distinctly distracted and he had almost singed his eyebrows off twice. He didn't want to go on his date with Lily with no eyebrows. He didn't think she would care, she would probably find it funny, but he cared.

Lily and her friends entered the Great Hall for lunch just as the boys were leaving. The girls had been trying to get organized for the ball. Lily had to help set up, which meant that she would have less time to get ready than the rest of her roommates. They had therefore decided that she needed to choose a hairstyle, make-up, and jewelry before they could go to lunch.

The slight nerves that Lily had been feeling when she woke up had increased dramatically over the morning and her insides were squirming in a similar to the effects described in Moste Potent Potions about how ones insides would feel during the transformation caused by Polyjuice Potion.

"So, you nervous?" Katie asked grinning as they sat down.

Lily suspected that Katie's question had something to do with the fact that she had flushed rather badly when they had passed James and his friends as the girls had entered the Great Hall and the boys had left.

"A little," Lily admitted.

"Don't worry," Marlene advised. "It'll be great. I've told you a hundred times that boy is head over heals for you."

Lily smiled and just nodded. She just picked at her food she wasn't really hungry. She wasn't that nervous really. Sure she was a little nervous but mostly she was excited. She couldn't wait for the ball.

At three o'clock Lily and James found themselves in the Great Hall along with the Prefects, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall. They had just under two hours to get the bulk of the decorating done before the feast for the first through third year students began.

Luckily everything went smoothly, except for a minor accident involving two fifth year Prefects, one of Hagrid's giant pumpkins, and Peeves but Professor Flitwick had it cleaned up in a jiffy. McGonagall told Peeves if he she saw him within one hundred meters of the Great Hall between then and tomorrow morning she would send for the Bloody Baron. This was highly effective though Peeves did overturn several suits of armor while he flew angrily away.

Once the Great Hall was decorated Lily walked quickly back up to Gryffindor Tower.

"You're certainly in a hurray," James said as he caught up with her.

"Well," Lily said grinning playfully, "I've got to make myself all pretty for you."

James laughed. "I already think you're pretty," he responded completely serious.

Lily blushed and waved her hand implying this wasn't true.

"But I do and you are," James insisted.

Lily just laughed at him and said, "Sod off Potter." And grinning deviously she ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

It wouldn't actually take her three hours of work to get ready for the dance. However, Lily knew that despite the fact that they had gotten everything ready before hand her friends would still go through every hairstyle in every Witch Weekly magazine they had before finally choosing the one they had already decided on.

Two and a half-hours later Lily's suspicion had indeed proved to be fairly accurate. Sure they hadn't tried _every_ hairstyle in all of their Witch Weekly Magazines but they had tried a ton of them and they had indeed finally decided on the one they had chosen before lunch.

Lily's hair was now done up in an elegant French Twist with a few wisps of hair curled and hanging down in front. Lily finished off her look with a little bit of make-up and her favorite silver necklace and earrings. She had to admit she liked how she looked, she just hoped James would agree. When she voiced this fear to her friends they burst out laughing.

"Lily," Katie said, suppressing her laughter enough to speak, "if James doesn't think you look good, he needs his head examined."

Lily smiled at this and looked at the time. It was 7:45. She had to meet James in the Common Room. The rules about being fashionably late did not apply when you were responsible for leading everyone into the party. This was also making her nervous. She and James were responsible for opening the dance. It wasn't that she minded dancing or being seen with James, it was the thought of everybody watching her that bothered her. Lily certainly wouldn't describe herself as shy, on the contrary she was very friendly and outgoing, however, she didn't like it when people stared at her. It was one of the things about James that used to drive her mad. He was always looking at her, it made her uncomfortable.

Tonight, however, she hoped he would be staring at her. Grinning nervously she followed Katie down towards the Common Room. Marcie, Marlene and Abby had already left. Marcie was going to meet her boyfriend in the Entrance Hall and Abby and Marlene, who were also going with boys from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively, had gone with her. Katie was going with Remus and she and Lily were meeting James and Remus in the Common Room.

Katie was once again trying to get Lily to tell her who the band was so Lily didn't even notice James's presence until Katie spoke to him.

"Fashion tip James, mouth looks better closed," Katie said laughing.

Lily turned around quickly just in time to see James's neck flush. She grinned at him.

"So, how do I look?" she asked.

"Amazing," James whispered his voice barely audible.

Lily smiled. He had been telling her he thought was beautiful for years, but this was the first time she thought he sounded sincere.

"You look pretty good yourself," she replied smiling flirtatiously.

James grinned. Was she flirting with him? On purpose?

"Shall we go ma'lady?" he asked.

"Lead the way fine sir," Lily replied with a giggle. 'Did I just giggle? What's gotten into me?'

Remus looked at Lily and James and then over to Katie and rolled his eyes. Katie laughed in response.

"Are you ready to go?" Remus asked.

"Yes, let's go. But let's not stand too close to those two. Whatever's wrong with them could be contagious," Katie said with a laugh.

"Definitely," Remus agreed chuckling at his friends' antics.

The Entrance Hall was very crowded when James and Lily arrived. People who were meeting dates from other houses were shuffling through the crowd looking for their dates while couples who had already found each other milled around talking. James and Lily were supposed to lead everyone into the Great Hall so they made their way to the front.

"Ready?" James asked.

"No," Lily replied. "I hate it when people stare at me. It's very disconcerting."

"Oh…" James responded quietly looking slightly uncomfortable.

Lily smiled at him. "Don't apologize. You can't help being an annoying prat. It's part of your insufferable charm."

James grinned sheepishly at her.

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall was at their side calling everyone to attention. She instructed everyone to find a table once they entered. It wasn't important which one, as they would only remain in their current position for dinner. She also informed Lily and James that they would be sitting at a table with Dumbledore. They both nodded slightly disappointed that they couldn't sit with their friends but not displeased with having to sit with the Headmaster. As James pointed out as they prepared to enter the Great Hall, dinner with Dumbledore certainly wouldn't be boring.

Once they had sat down Lily noticed a small menu sitting by her plate. She looked curiously at James who just shrugged and motioned his head towards Dumbledore. Lily turned to look at Dumbledore. After contemplating his menu for a moment Dumbledore looked down at his plate and said "Chicken." Moments later chicken appeared. Lily looked at James who shrugged again and looked at his plate and said, "Steak."

Lily also ordered the chicken and for a few minutes the only sound was that of people placing their orders with their plates.

Once everyone had finished ordering the buzz of conversation began.

"So," Dumbledore began addressing Lily and James. "How has everything been going? I apologize for not being able to meet with you yet. I've been unusually busy lately. However, I hope to schedule an appointment with you within the week."

"That's quite all right Professor, we know you're busy," Lily replied.

Dumbledore smiled at them. "So, have you been enjoying your seventh year so far?"

"Yes, sir," James answered this time. "We're learning a lot. We should be well prepared for our N.E.W.T.s."

"Excellent, excellent," Dumbledore smiled. "Oh, and incidentally, Mr. Potter…"

"Yes, sir?"

"Congratulations," Dumbledore said with a knowing smile.

James's neck flushed and he grinned nervously. "Thank you sir."

Dumbledore just chuckled. "I was speaking with your father the other day he says that he is enjoying retirement."

"Yes, sir. He's driving my Mum a bit mad though. He's taken to attending all the Puddlemere United matches."

Dumbledore laughed, "Yes, he mentioned something about that. He also asked me how you were doing as Head Boy."

"Oh, really," James said trying to make it sound like an offhanded comment, but Lily could tell he really wanted to know what Dumbledore had said.

"I told him you were performing your role admirably."

"Thank you, sir," James replied sincerely a small smile on his lips.

"And how are things with you, Miss Evans?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Very well, sir," Lily replied feeling slightly nervous about being addressed by the Headmaster.

"Good, good," Dumbledore replied.

"Are you both ready to open this fabulous dance of ours?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well," James replied, "it's a tough job but somebody has to do it."

Both Dumbledore and Lily chuckled. Lily couldn't believe how comfortable James always appeared. Here they were, sitting with Albus Dumbledore, greatest wizard of the age and their Headmaster and he was participating in friendly banter as if he talked to Dumbledore on a daily basis. Lily also noticed that he managed to do this while still conveying a great deal of respect towards the Headmaster.

Finally, when everyone had finished dinner and the plates were all sparkling clean once again Dumbledore directed his conversation towards Lily and James once again.

"Well, it is time," Dumbledore said. "Would one of you like to introduce our entertainment for tonight, as it was your idea after all?"

Lily shifted nervously and was glad when James said, "I'll do it, if you like, sir."

Dumbledore nodded. He asked everyone to stand up and move into the middle of the dance floor away from the tables. Once everyone was out of the way he moved all the tables to the sides of the room, stacking most of them. He left a few out for people to sit at and placed the chairs around the room. With another wave of his wand a stage and instruments appeared.

"Welcome, everyone. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves so far and that you will enjoy the rest of the evening. We are entering into dark times but tonight is not about that. Tonight is about having fun and enjoying your youth. I would like to extend full credit to him and Miss Evans for recommending our entertainment for this evening and also to thank Professor Slughorn for putting in a good word for us," Dumbledore looked at Lily and James who both grinned and at Professor Slughorn who sat up a bit straighter. So, without further ado Mr. Potter will be introducing you to our entertainment for this evening.

James hopped onto the stage, pointed his wand at his throat and said, "Sonorus."

"Good evening, everyone," James's voice was magically projected over the crowd. "The Head Girl and I hope you enjoy our choice of entertainment for the evening. You've been bugging us for weeks to tell you who it will be and I'm glad to finally be able to tell you so we don't have to listen to the constant badgering anymore."

"Come on Potter, tell us who it is!" someone called out from the crowd laughing.

"Don't worry I'm getting there, Sirius," James replied.

The audience laughed.

"So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. Tonight's entertainment will be brought to us by none other than…_The Weird Sisters!_"

The Great Hall erupted with cheers of approval. James smiled as he pointed his wand at his throat again and muttered, "Qietus."

He headed off the stage towards the Weird Sisters who were making their way up to the stage. The lead singer looked at James, smiled, and gave the slightest of nods, which James returned. He had been surprised earlier by how nice the band members had been. They had readily agreed to play the song James requested for the opening dance. They had asked if he was sure that he could come up with an acceptable dance to it as the beat wasn't the best for dancing, but James said it wouldn't be a problem.

James headed over to Lily and then lead her out onto the dance floor with a grin she recognized as the one who used on teachers when he knew he had done something and was sure that not only was it brilliant, but that he would get away with it.

The music began with a staticky wavering of the bagpipes. James grinned as he took her hand. Hearing the beat Lily realized that she had no idea how to dance to it. This, however, need not have concerned her, as James seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

James seemed to instantly find the beat. Lily was surprised for a moment until the song began.

_I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine_

James didn't miss a beat it was like he had planned it.

_On a cloud of sound I drift in the night_

_Any place it goes is right_

_Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here_

He had planned this, Lily suddenly realized. It was then that she started to really listen to the words, wondering why James had chosen it.

_Well, you don't know what we can find_

_Why don't you come with me little girl_

_On a magic carpet ride_

Lily laughed. James was grinning too; he loved Lily's laugh.

_You don't know what we can see_

_Why don't you tell your dreams to me_

_Fantasy will set you free_

_Close your eyes girl_

_Look inside girl_

_Let the sound take you away_

Lily couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun. Who cared if everybody was staring at her? James's antics were enough to distract her completely. Plus she had the distinct feeling that James, who was definitely leading was attracting most of the attention anyway.

_Last night I held Aladdin's lamp_

_And so I wished that I could stay_

_Before the thing could answer me_

_Well, someone came and took the lamp away_

_I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found_

This was a great song. Why hadn't she heard it before? And why had James chosen it?

_Well, you don't know what we can find_

_Why don't you come with me little girl_

_On a magic carpet ride_

_Well, you don't know what we can see_

_Why don't you tell your dreams to me_

_Fantasy will set you free_

_Close your eyes girl_

_Look inside girl_

_Let the sound take you away_

The words ended and now all that was left was music. James continued to lead the two of them around the dance floor, twirling and dipping Lily in an almost whimsical fashion, though she was quite convinced he had the whole thing fairly well planned in his head already.

_Well, you don't know what we can find_

_Why don't you come with me little girl_

_On a magic carpet ride_

_You don't know what we can see_

_Why don't you tell your dreams to me_

_Fantasy will set you free_

_Close your eyes girl_

_Look inside girl_

_Let the sound take you away_

The chorus was repeated one last time and the song came to an end. Lily suddenly became aware of the fact that no one else had joined them on the floor and were watching them. James took Lily's hand and led them in an overly dramatic bow to their audience. Everyone applauded including The Weird Sisters. The Weird Sisters then began another song, this one slightly faster and easier to dance to and other couples made their way to the dance floor.

"Do you want to dance?" James asked grinning.

"No, I thought I'd just sit and watch everyone else dance," Lily replied innocently.

James laughed and led Lily back out onto the dance floor.

A half a dozen songs later Lily was beginning to get tired and was about to suggest they sit for a minute and have a butterbeer, when a slower song began.

"Do you want to keep dancing or do you want to sit down for a minute?" James asked this rather quickly sounding, once again, uncharacteristically nervous.

In response Lily wrapped her arms around James's neck and moved a little closer to him. James face broke into the biggest grin she'd ever seen. He placed his hands cautiously on her waist and they began to sway in time to the music.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Lily said.

"What day?" James asked a hint of apprehension in his voice.

"The day James Potter was nervous about anything," Lily replied with a chuckle.

"Well, what can I say Evans, you make me exceedingly nervous," James's neck flushed slightly as he said this.

James was definitely nervous. He had never been this close to Lily before. It was even better than he thought it would be. He now realized that sweet smell that he associated with her had to be her shampoo and that it was even more intoxicating up close. She was the perfect height too. He could tell that if he pulled her against him her head would rest in exactly the right spot on his chest. And she looked absolutely stunning in her dress robes with her hair done like that. Although, part of him wished her hair was down, it looked so soft and he really wanted to just run his hands through it.

Lily still couldn't quite believe what was happening. She was dancing, willingly, with James Potter. Despite the oddity of it all she couldn't deny how comfortable it felt. She was really tempted to move a little closer and see if her head would in fact land in just the right spot on his chest. She breathed deeply and then for some reason she found her mind wandering to Potions class. What was wrong with her, why was she thinking about Potions at a time like this? It was something she smelled she realized suddenly. 'Smell is a powerful memory trigger,' she thought to herself. But why did it have to go their now? Suddenly realization washed over her. She smelled that unidentifiable smell she detected in the Amortentia Potion. She still couldn't quite place what the smell was but that really wasn't the point as she realized the smell was distinctly James. She breathed more deeply and concluded it must be a combination of laundry detergent and soap. It was quite a nice smell actually.

"What are you thinking about?" James whispered in her ear.

Lily blushed, "Nothing."

James smiled and sighed as the song came to an end, far too soon in his opinion, to be replaced by something more upbeat.

"Do you want to go get something to drink?" he asked his hands still holding onto her waist.

"Sure," Lily replied taking her arms off James's shoulders rather reluctantly.

They headed over to the refreshment table where they ran into Katie and Remus.

"So," Katie asked pulling Lily aside, "are you having fun?"

Lily smiled, "Definitely. Should have listen to you and Marlene years ago."

Katie laughed. "Well, well, is Lily Evans finally admitting that she does indeed fancy Mr. Potter?" Katie asked grinning fiendishly.

"Shut-up," Lily whispered blushing as James and Remus headed towards them.

"Ladies, are you talking about us?" James asked with and innocent grin on his face.

"In your dreams," Katie replied just innocently.

Lily reached out for the butter beer James had for her.

"Bye, Lily, James," Katie said winking at them as she and Remus headed back to the dance floor.

James and Lily went over and sat down on a couple of nearby chairs to drink their butter beers.

"So, are you having a good time?" James asked looking down at his drink.

"Yes, thank you," Lily replied smiling. "I'm sorry it took me so long to say yes."

"It's ok…" James said trailing off.

"You were right you know," Lily told him smiling.

"About what?"

"You are a fun date," Lily replied as if it were obvious.

James laughed. "I've been telling you this for years and you just now realize I was telling the truth. And they say you're smart," James said jokingly.

Lily smiled and took a large sip of her butter beer. Although she needed the break she was quite eager to get back out on the floor and dance with James some more.

Lily spent most of the night dancing with James and was quite pleased that several slower songs were included at regular intervals.

The dance finally drew to a close at midnight, though Lily had to admit a part of her wished it would continue.

James and Lily had to stay behind as everyone went back to their dormitories.

"The teachers can handle cleaning up," Professor Dumbledore told them. "But it would be most helpful if you would make sure that all the students make it back to their dormitories. We wouldn't want them to get lost and accidentally end up trapped in a broom cupboard," Dumbledore explained with a knowing look.

James and Lily nodded with a laugh. Dumbledore told them that between a half an hour to forty-five minutes should be enough time to find any lost students, he didn't want to keep them up too late.

An hour, twenty detentions, and about one hundred negative points later Lily and James were climbing through the portrait hole into and empty common room. It was rather dark as all the candles had been extinguished and the only light came from the dying embers of the fire.

James nervously ran his hand through his hair and then stuck his hands in the pockets of his dress robes.

"Thanks for agreeing to go to the dance with me," he said nervously. "I had a great time."

Lily smiled at him. She could tell he wanted to kiss her goodnight and that it was probably taking most of his energy to resist the temptation. Lily really wanted him to give in to temptation just this once, but she had the feeling he would play the gentleman to the end. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'nothing else I can do.'

"I had a great time too James," Lily replied. Then she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss not, to his great surprise, on the cheek but on his mouth.

With that she turned around and ran up the staircase to the girl's dormitory. Knowing that her friends were probably up there sharing stories about their nights and waiting eagerly for Lily's return.

James, on the other hand, stood in the Common Room for several minutes, trying to process what had just happened.


	20. Chapter 20 Almost Perfect

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.

Chapter 20 Almost Perfect

Lily entered the girl's dorm and was not surprised to find out that she had been right. Her friends were indeed still awake and discussing the ball.

"So, Lily," Marlene said with a grin as Lily entered. "Katie tells us that you have finally seen the light."

"Maybe…" Lily said blushing furiously.

"Ooooo," all four girls squealed.

"So, where have you to been?" Katie asked with a suggestive raising of her eyebrows.

"Out assigning enough detentions to keep the teachers busy 'til Christmas and docking enough points to set every house back at least two weeks," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"Well, that's no fun," Marlene retorted.

"Enough of this silly talk," Abby declared. "Let's get to the important stuff. Did he kiss you?"

"No," Lily replied, "He was a perfect gentleman."

The girls sighed.

"I did kiss him though," she added offhandedly as she walked out the door to go the bathroom to brush her teeth, remove her make-up and let her hair down.

There was a pause and then all four girls shouted, "What?!" But Lily was already out the door.

She came back ten minutes later feeling much more comfortable with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing her favorite pajamas.

"You kissed him!?" Katie shouted the second Lily walked back into the room.

"Yup," Lily confirmed hanging up her dress robes.

"And then what?" Marlene asked.

"Then I came back up here," Lily said still putting her things away.

"What? You didn't even say anything? You kissed him and left?"

"Yup," Lily replied again.

"Where did you kiss him?" Katie asked with her eyebrows raised suggestively.

"On the mouth," Lily said ignoring what Katie was insinuating.

"So…you just kissed him and ran away?" Marlene asked again.

"Yup," Lily said again. "Can't give him too much at once, gotta still play a little hard to get. Take all the fun out of it if I give in too easily," Lily said with a grin.

"So will you be his girlfriend if he asks you?" Marcie asked the excitement evident in her voice.

Lily nodded still smiling. "I forbid you to tell him," she added. "Best make him work for it. Watch him squirm a bit," Lily said with a grin.

"You haven't been playing hard to get this whole time?" Marlene suddenly asked sounding scandalized. "Cause if I've had to listen to him all these years and you were just playing hard to get, well…I'm gonna find the most embarrassing hex I can and perform it on you every day until the end of the year."

Lily laughed. "No, I haven't been playing hard to get all these years. I wouldn't go out with him before because I could barely tolerate the sight of him. However, now I don't want to give in too quickly. His ego still doesn't need any boosting. Besides it's fun and its not like I haven't made it rather obvious at this point and I'm not leading him on."

The other girls laughed at their friend's antics and the five of them began to climb into bed. It was almost two in the morning after all.

Meanwhile…

James finally snapped out his reverie when the dying embers of the fire gave a particularly loud crack.

James headed slowly up the stairs his mind reeling. She had kissed him. Lily Evans had kissed him!

"Was it really necessary to give me detention and dock points," Sirius whined as James entered.

"Huh?" James asked. "Oh. Yup, if it weren't for people like you we wouldn't have had to patrol the halls," James stated comprehending what Sirius was complaining about.

He and his date, a girl from Hufflepuff had been one of the first people James and Lily had caught. "I mean the Entrance Hall broom closet, you had to know that would be one of the first places I would think to check."

James changed out of his dress robes into pajama bottoms and flopped down onto his bed grinning like a fool.

"So, I take it you had fun with Evans?" Sirius asked casually.

"Excellent," James replied.

"Did you kiss her?" Peter asked.

"Nope."

"Fool," Remus replied much to James, Sirius, and Peters' surprise.

"Did you just call me a fool for doing the gentlemanly thing?" James asked shocked.

"Why, yes I did. She would have let you," Remus said as if it were obvious.

"Yeah, I kinda figure that when she kissed me before she took off for the girls dorm," James replied casually as if he had not just dropped a bomb.

"She…kissed…you?!" Sirius asked unable to contain his shock.

"Mmhmm," James replied still grinning.

"How did you do it?" Sirius asked in awe.

"How I should have done years ago," James answered. "I was myself."

"Now he gets it!" Remus declared in an over dramatic display frustration. "Six years, six years and he finally gets it!"

"I'm right here Moony, I can hear you, ya' know," James said trying to sound annoyed. Nothing his friends said or did could bother him right now.

None of the Gryffindor seventh years were up in time for breakfast the next morning, in fact not one of them was awake before 11. They probably would have slept later if it weren't for their need for food.

During their late night patrol Lily and James had arranged to meet after lunch to go over what they were learning in Transfiguration. Lily was much happier with her marks now, of course, but she didn't want to risk becoming lost again. Also with N.E.W.T.s coming up she wanted to be well prepared. She wasn't positive what she wanted to do after she left Hogwarts but she didn't want to be hindered by a poor grade in Transfiguration, which could make getting into some of the fields she was interested in difficult if not impossible.

They escaped their friends easily. It was a shame they couldn't thank McGonagall for their ready-made excuse for leaving their friends. They had to meet with her to give her the list of students who they had caught last night, well technically this morning, and give her a list of punishments they had handed out.

After exchanging pleasantries they turned in their list. McGonagall then spent a good bit of time going over what Lily and James thought about the dance and asking for suggestions for improving future dances. After that they had to go over the patrol schedule for the Prefects for November. James also went over Gryffindor's Quidditch practice schedule as it was easier to do it then, than to arrange a separate time to meet with McGonagall later.

In the end their meeting took almost two hours and by the time they reached the Head's Common Room to study Transfiguration it was three o'clock.

James sat down in his usual spot on the sofa in front of the fireplace and was surprised when Lily sat down next to him, instead of across like she usually did. Not that he was complaining…

They worked quite well and by four thirty James had completed his homework and Lily now had, and understood, all the correct answers. Although she had finished it Friday there had been a few points she wasn't completely clear on.

Once they had finished James decided to bring up a subject he had wanted to talk to Lily about since the end of their opening dance at the ball the night before. Well, no, that wasn't true. He'd wanted to bring it up for years, and had on multiple occasions, but it was at that point last night that he thought he could bring it up without getting death threats, cursed into oblivion, or being told the giant squid was a better option than he was.

"So, I just wanted to say again that I had a great time last night," James began cautiously.

"Me too," Lily replied smiling.

"You looked amazing," James continued cautiously shifting himself so that he was a closer to Lily on the couch.

"You looked pretty good yourself," Lily replied putting down her quill and turning her full attention towards James.

"Thanks," James replied grinning. He ran his hand nervously through his hair. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

"Well, it's the truth," Lily replied shifting herself so that she was facing more towards James.

"Lily," James began quietly sounding more nervous than she'd ever heard him. He not only sounded nervous he looked it, he kept running his hand subconsciously through his hair and he wasn't looking directly at her.

"Yes, James?" Lily asked gently.

"I…well…I really like you, a lot…"

"I like you too James," she replied. Although playing hard to get was fun she couldn't continue when he looked like this.

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

Lily just smiled and nodded.

"Oh, well, I well, what are we?" he asked taking Lily slightly by surprise. "Where do we stand?"

"Where would you like us to stand?" Lily asked nervously.

She knew where she wanted this conversation to head and it certainly looked like it was heading that way, so why was she so nervous? 'Because your afraid maybe it's not heading where you want or think it is,' that annoying voice in her head explained.

"Well, and please don't hex, me…"

Oh no, I've waited too long, he doesn't want to date me, how could I have read the signs wrong…

"I'd really like it if you'd be my girlfriend..."

Oh good, he hadn't changed his mind. Lily's relief must have shown because James suddenly asked, "What's wrong?"

Lily smiled at him, "Well, I guess I could agree to that."

"Really?" James asked not entirely sure that he had heard her right.

Lily nodded. Both of them just sat there for a moment grinning like fools, while what had just happened sank in.

Cautiously, James turned so that he was facing Lily completely, their knees bumping. He reached out his left hand and took hold of her right. He ran the pad of his thumb over the back of her hand. It was so soft. He could feel that spine tingling sensation he felt whenever he was near her increase tenfold.

"You have no idea how long I've liked you," he whispered.

Lily smiled, "I've got a pretty good idea. If Marlene is to be believed," Lily laughed lightly.

"You really are beautiful you know," James told her breathlessly.

"Flattery will get you no where," Lily said quietly still smiling.

"That wasn't flattery, it was the truth," James whispered.

Throughout the conversation their faces had been getting progressively closer and they were now only inches apart.

'Just do it you fool,' James thought. 'She just agreed to be your girlfriend, she'll be angry if you don't do it, not if you do.' James could feel his heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline surged through him. He'd been dreaming about this for years and now he was actually going to get to kiss Lily Evans, last night didn't really count.

James was so cute when he was nervous. She was finding it hard to resist the urge to kiss him but she would wait and let him kiss her this time. As he took her hand in his she could feel the butterflies in her stomach and she felt a pleasant tingling sensation travel up her spine. His hands were pleasantly warm and not nearly as rough as they looked. Her face was inches from his now. She could feel his hot breath and she was sure he could feel hers.

James slowly lifted his other hand and brushed a strand of hair out of her face laying his hand on her cheek in its stead. He slowly leaned forward until his forehead was touching hers their lips just millimeters apart.

"Well, what are you waiting for," Lily whispered; so quietly it was barely audible.

Smiling James brought his mouth the rest of the way to hers. Instantly he knew it was the best kiss he'd ever had. She tasted like strawberries. After a moment James pulled away smiling.

"Wow," was all he said.

Lily giggled; something James had never heard her do before.

Suddenly the Grandfather clock in the corner of the room began to toll breaking the moment.

Lily smiled shyly at James who grinned in return.

"I knew you couldn't resist my roguish charm forever," he said grinning.

"Shut-up, Potter," Lily scoffed slapping James lightly on the arm yet laughing all the same. She had always hated it when he was right.

"I suppose we should get going to dinner," James said in a resigned voice.

"Yeah," Lily replied sounding no more enthusiastic about than James did but resolutely packing up her things up just the same. James followed suit.

"Lily?" he asked quietly as they entered the corridor.

"Yes, James?"

"Can I hold your hand?" he asked looking pathetically adorable as he did so.

Lily couldn't help, it she laughed. "Since when do you have to ask if you can hold your girlfriends hand?" she asked.

James grinned. Lily Evans was his girlfriend. He was her boyfriend. He still couldn't quite believe it.

"Is that a yes then?" he asked.

Lily laughed and rolled her eyes but then she grabbed his hand and started walking down the corridor.

"Remind me later to play my Beatles record for you," Lily said as they headed off towards dinner.

"Beetles? Why do you have a record of beetles?" James asked confused. Lily laughed and James heard her mumble something about stupid wizards.

They were almost in the Great Hall when it happened.

"Potter, I'm afraid I'll have to report you to the Headmaster. I'm sure he'll have your badge for this. Love potions are definitely against the rules," Snape's voice rang out behind them.

Lily sighed. Why, why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? James had done nothing to him all year, why did he have to provoke him now? And how dare he accuse James of something like that. James would never do something like that!

Suddenly, Lily became aware of the fact that James had stopped walking. He looked angry but she also detected a slight hint of hurt in his eyes.

"Go away Snape!" James said trying to keep his cool but unable to keep his anger out of his voice.

"What I'm not just going to let you get away with giving love potions to girls just to boost your reputation. Even if she is just some stupid Mudblood."

Now he'd done it. Now James was going to hex Snape into oblivion and James was going to lose his badge, which was probably what Snape wanted. How could Snape be so hateful? How could anyone be so hateful?

"Twenty-five points from Slytherin!" James's voice rang out. "And detention for as long as I can convince Slughorn to give it to you!"

"What no hex? No, insults about my greasy hair? Your precious Mudblood certainly has you whipped," Snape spat back venomously. "Though I suppose I should expect nothing less from someone who hangs around with filthy half-breeds."

"Fifty more points from Slytherin," James replied. With that he grabbed Lily's hand and walked quickly into the Great Hall.

As they passed the Slytherin table James stopped. "In case your all wondering, Severus Snape is the one responsible for the seventy-five points you just lost," he informed them and then turned and headed up to the staff table.

As he walked up to McGonagall and Dumbledore he noticed them eyeing the Slytherin hourglass which was now adjusting itself for the points James had just taken away. Lily stood quietly behind James as he stood in front of McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"I take it you are about to explain where seventy-five of Slytherins points just went," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Yes, sir," James replied, his voice a forced calm that didn't quite mask his anger. "Miss Evans and I were just walking through the Entrance Hall when Mr. Snape came up behind us and made some very rude comments including referring to the Head Girls as 'a stupid, um well… he called her a you-know-what. So I took 25 points and told him he'd receive as much detention as Slughorn would agree to. And then he made some comment about my not hexing him and he referred to the Head Girl as a…a you-know-what a second time and so I took some more points," James explained all of this very quickly. He hoped that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall would realize what he meant by you-no-what because he didn't really want to say it, he hated that word and anyone who thought it was okay to use it. "He also made a snide comment about my hanging around with filthy half-breeds," James added. "I don't really understand why he felt the need to bring Hagrid in too, but he did," James gave Dumbledore a look that he hoped conveyed that Snape had not been talking about Hagrid, but Remus. He hoped by saying Hagrid's name he would deter Lily from asking awkward questions about James's associations with 'half-breeds.'

"I see," Dumbledore replied looking at James with that piercing gaze that made James feel as though Dumbledore was looking through him rather than at him. "Horace, I will need to see Mr. Snape in my office later. I would appreciate it if you would accompany him."

Professor Slughorn nodded a look of shock on his face. James wasn't sure if it was shock that James had just taken seventy-five points from Slughorn's house or if it was because of what Snape had said. While Snape was brilliant at Potions, he wasn't in Slug Club like James and Lily were. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

"Thank you Mr. Potter, you may sit down now," Professor Dumbledore said gently. James nodded and he turned towards the Gryffindor table. As he walked past Lily he reached out and grasped her hand gently in his.

James had never been so angry in his life. Sure he'd heard call Lily…a…that word before but this time it was more personal. Snape had meant it to be that way. He had known exactly how to push James' buttons.

And to suggest that he would give Lily a love potion just to get her to go out with him was ludicrous. That was something Snape would do, probably the only way for him to get himself a date, who would want to go out with the greasy haired git. While Snape's suggestion that James had given her a love potion didn't anger him nearly as much as Snape calling Lily…that word, it had still gotten to him more than he wanted to admit. What if other people thought he had? He would never do something like that but would other people think he had?

Why was he even worrying about that? Snape had called Lily the M-word and he was worrying about being accused of giving her a love potion, 'Where are my priorities? I hope Dumbledore makes him clean out the bedpans in the hospital wing, without magic. And that while he's facing this punishment some horrid, but curable, intestinal disease befalls the castle to make his suffering even greater.'

And his comment about Remus had just been uncalled for. James hoped that by mentioning Hagrid he had thrown Lily off, but he was worried that Dumbledore hadn't picked up the fact that Snape hadn't really been talking about Hagrid. He hoped Dumbledore, clever as he was, would pick up on it.

Their friends hadn't come down to dinner yet and it wasn't very crowded so James and Lily sat at the far end of the table where there was no one to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You handled that really well," Lily said in what she hoped was a soothing voice; she was still quite shaken up by the incident herself.

At the sound of her voice James snapped out of his thoughts. "Are you ok?" he asked his voice full of concern.

"I'll be fine," Lily replied. It was true, this was not the first time Snape had called her…the M-word, and unfortunately she doubted it would be the last time someone called her it.

Neither Lily nor James were very hungry anymore and after fifteen minutes of half-heartedly picking at their food Lily suggested they go back up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

James readily agreed. James didn't feel like dealing with people at the moment, and as people were now really starting to head down to dinner, he decided now would be a good time to show Lily one of his shortcuts that would take them off the usual path to the Common Room. It was this that caused them to miss their friends heading down to dinner.

Since it was now the height of dinnertime the Common Room was almost completely deserted. James flopped down on a couch in front of the fire and Lily sat down next to him. James shifted his position so that he was leaning against the edge of the couch with one leg propped up on it stretched out in front of him and prodded Lily to move so that she was lying up against his chest.

They had been lying like that for about ten minutes when James finally spoke.

"I'm sorry," he whispered sadly.

"What are you sorry for?" Lily asked shifting slightly so she could see James while still sort of lying down. "It wasn't your fault. You did absolutely nothing to him."

"If I hadn't been such an arse to him all these years he wouldn't have bothered us," James said dejectedly.

"You haven't done a single thing to him this year," Lily said. "And even if he didn't hate you, he'd still call me names."

James sighed gripping his hair with his right hand in frustration, his left hand was resting on Lily's back.

"It's not fair!" he declared angrily. "It's not right that some witches and wizards think they're better than everyone else just because they're families have been wizards for generations. It doesn't make them any better.

"You're a perfect example. You're muggle born and you're the best student in the whole year. It's just stupid bigotry. It's not right."

Lily was struck again by that same feeling she'd had when James had realized just how Petunia felt about Lily. James had very strong convictions about right and wrong and she knew that he would always stand up for what was right, no matter what the consequences.

"And then you've got gits like this Voldemort character going around promoting purity of blood," James continued his rant.

"He's been causing trouble for years, but the Ministry complete ignores him until he starts attacking Pure Bloods, where were they when he was only causing problems for Muggle borns and Half-Bloods."

"Hey," Lily said calmly bringing her hand up to him and running it through his hair. "It's alright."

"No, it's not," James said with such passion and conviction in both his voice and his eyes that Lily was momentarily frightened. She'd never seen a look like that on his face.

"No, it's not, but there's not much more you can do right now. You took enough points from Slytherin to make Snape's whole house turn on him. You've told Dumbledore, who's arranged a meeting between himself, Snape, and Snape's Head of House, and you've guaranteed Snape many unpleasant hours of detention. You've done everything that is within your power to do. You can't force people to change how they think. Well, except maybe with the Imperious Curse, but that's not really changing their minds and it's also more than a bit illegal," Lily said this last part with a slight grin.

"Yeah, I suppose," James sighed. "I just wish…"

Lily cut James off as she planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

Pulling away she asked, "Now what where you saying?"

"No, idea," James replied placing his hand on Lily's cheek and pulling her face towards his again. He kissed her, lightly at first, then more passionately. His tongue ran across her lips begging for access and she complied. His tongue brushing up against hers sent shivers down her spine.

Lily shifted into a more comfortable position, never breaking contact with James' mouth. Her hand slowly reached up and she ran it through his hair. It was amazingly soft, she didn't know how she hadn't noticed before.

James wrapped his arms around Lily, one resting comfortably on her waist the other running repetitively through her hair. It was just as soft as he imagined it. He could spend hours like this he thought.

"EHEM!" Lily and James both jumped and Lily, literally, fell of the couch.

"Well, I must say, when Dumbledore said in your letters that you two were supposed to be role models to the younger students, I didn't realize that this is what he meant. Makes you wonder why he didn't make me Head Boy," Sirius said with an innocent grin plastered on his face.

"Sirius, have I told you that I hate you today?" James asked sounding more than a little annoyed.

"Well, Prongs," Remus said smiling, "I see you've gotten over your need to play the gentleman."

"Yeah, weren't you the one lecturing us about that just last night," Peter asked with a grin.

"Sod-off," James grumbled.

"Now, now, Prongs, is that anyway to talk to your best mates?" Sirius chided.

James gave him a look that said, 'You're pushing you luck,' and Sirius promptly shut-up.

"Hi, Lily," Katie said grinning. "Why are you sitting on the floor? You looked a lot more comfortable on the couch."

"I have to agree with James on this one, sod-off," Lily said in an annoyed voice, although she couldn't help smiling slightly. Katie was right, Lily _had_ been a lot more comfortable on the couch.

"Lily Evans," Katie exclaimed, "do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"I don't know about her mother," said Sirius barely containing his laughter, "but apparently she kisses James with it."

All their friends burst out laughing.

"So this is why you two weren't at dinner?" Marlene said grinning along with the rest of their friends.

"Yeah, it's a shame you weren't there," Sirius said excitedly. "Slytherin somehow managed to lose SEVENTY-FIVE points between lunch and dinner. There are rumors that Snape was involved somehow. I hope it's true. I can't imagine how his housemate will take him sending them from first to last place in one day."

James and Lily's friends were all grinning at this until they saw the dark look that passed between Lily and James.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

Lily gave James a look that clearly said, you explain. James nodded sighing.

"We ran into Snape in the Entrance Hall on the way to dinner or I suppose more accurately he came up behind us in the Entrance Hall…"

James and Lily's friends listened in silence as James retold the story to their friends.

"So Dumbledore upheld your seventy-five point deduction and Snape has to go to a meeting with Slughorn _and_ Dumbledore?" Sirius asked in astonishment. "Meetings like that tend to lead to misery and suffering and months of detention. I hope they make him clean the bed pans in the hospital every weekend for the rest of the year... without magic."

James shrugged. "Won't make any difference," he mumbled.

"Hey, Snape's not getting away with it for once," Lily pointed out. "That's something."

James lapsed into silence again staring at the fire. Lily curled back up against him although she refrained from doing anything more than holding his hand to comfort him, now that their friends were present.

Their friends settled into chairs in front of the fireplace too. Peter ran upstairs and got his chessboard and proceeded to win spectacularly against Sirius much to the rest of the groups' amusement. During all this Lily decided, as James ran his hand lazily through her hair, that despite the problems with Snape, overall it had been a pretty good day.

A/N: I'm not sure whether I'm excited about there being a release date for Deathly Hallows or sad…This truly is, the end. Maybe we'll find out more about Lily and James!


	21. Chapter 21 A Night Apart

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. He belongs to J.K. Rowling. Hopefully she won't be too cruel to him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Chapter 21 A Night Apart

It was now nearing the end of November and Lily and James were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room trying to keep up with their ever-growing mountains of homework. James had been against doing their homework in the Gryffindor Common Room, where people could see him working, and had tried to convince Lily that they should work in the Head's Common Room instead, but Lily had refused point blank. She really needed to get her work done and she knew it would never happen in the privacy of the Head's Common Room.

James had eventually conceded, begrudgingly, to her demands with the promise of copious amounts of alone time once they had completed their homework, or at least made a very sizable dent in it.

James was also eager to please Lily because he needed her to be in a good mood when he told her he wouldn't be able to spend time with her on Saturday night. It was the Full Moon on Saturday and there was marauding to be done. Lily, however, couldn't know this, so James was planning on telling her that his friends were starting to feel a bit neglected, as James was quite busy between Quidditch, his Head duties, and Lily. He didn't think she'd be upset, he knew she hadn't spent as much time with her friends as she normally did and he had already decided that if she was upset by his plans he would recommend she have a night with the girls. He hoped that that would keep her being too upset or from asking too many questions.

"Lily," James began.

"Yes, James?" she asked not looking up from her Potions Essay.

"Um, I was talking to the guys yesterday and we've decided that we're going to hang out, just the four of us, on Saturday night. We really haven't had a chance to spend time together because I've been so busy and so I said I was free on Saturday," James concluded waiting for her response.

"Oh okay," Lily replied. "You need to spend time with your friends, I understand. Actually," she added, "it'll give me a chance to spend time with the girls, we haven't had much time to hang out either."

James smiled. She wasn't asking questions and she was happy for a chance to spend time with her friends.

At 8:45 Lily and James cleaned up their homework, they had actually made a pretty good dent, and took their things up to their respective dormitories before heading out for their nine o'clock patrol.

"Well, did you tell her or did you chicken out?" Sirius demanded as soon as James walked into the room.

"Relax Padfoot, she was fine with it. I mean it's not like the world will tragically end if we spend one evening apart," James replied rolling his eyes.

"What did you tell her we were doing?" Peter asked from behind his comic book.

"Just hanging out. She didn't ask any questions. She just said okay and that she'd see if her friends wanted to do something," James said with a shrug.

"Shame they're only doing it cause we're doing something," Sirius said. "We could spy on them. Hear what girls talk about when we're not there."

"And how would we do that without being able to get up the stairs?" Remus asked skeptically.

"Simple, Peter would transform and we'd levitate him up there. He's so small it would be easy for him to hide," Sirius answered as if it were obvious.

"I wonder if we could get up the stairs in our animagi forms?" James wondered allowed.

"We'll have to have Wormtail test it one day," Sirius said grinning.

"Why me? Why don't you do it?" Peter asked.

"Because you're the smallest, people would be less likely to notice you," Sirius explained.

"Unless it didn't work and I went sliding down the stairs," Peter pointed out.

"We'll try it at night," Sirius replied.

"Well, then you could try it, as no one would be around," Peter pointed out.

"Hmmm, true," Sirius said looking thoughtful.

"Sirius, if you go into the girls dormitory I'll put you in detention," James said without looking up from his trunk where he was looking for his invisibility cloak.

"Only joking mate, only joking," Sirius said. Though James wasn't entirely sure he believed him.

James found his invisibility cloak and put it in his pocket. "Alright, I have to go patrol, I'll see you guys later."

"Hey Lily," Marlene said as Lily entered the dorm.

"Hey, Marlene," Lily replied. "Oh, Marlene, do you have any plans for Saturday night?" Lily asked.

"Nope, why?"

"James is hanging out with the guys, so I thought maybe we girls should do something. I haven't spent any time with you and Katie in weeks and I miss Marcie and Abby too."

"I'm game. I know Katie doesn't have any plans and I'm sure Marcie and Abby will be up for some girliness," Marlene said with a grin.

"Excellent," Lily replied. "Alright, I've gotta go, James and I have to patrol in a few minutes."

"Have fun," Marlene replied in a sing song voice.

"Oh, we will," Lily grinned.

"Lily Evans!" Marlene chided, "are you neglecting your sacred duties for senseless, though enjoyable, snogging?"

"No," Lily replied. "We still get our patrolling done."

With that Lily left the dorm and headed to the common room to meet up with James.

James came down the stair just seconds after Lily walked into the Common Room and, smiling at each other, they headed out the portrait hole and into the corridor. James reached out and took Lily's hand in his. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Lily asked smiling. She loved James's little random acts of affection when they were alone. He really was quite sweet.

"Because I can." James replied. "So, you got a letter from your Mum at breakfast, how are things on the home front," James asked pleasantly.

"Good, from what she says," Lily answered. "Petunia's wedding plans are coming along nicely. Dad has decided to retire at the end of next year, but that's not surprising," Lily explained.

"Ah, so has your sister picked a date for her wedding yet?" James asked. "I know she hadn't last time your mother wrote."

"Oh, yeah, the end of June. Mum said not to worry, I wouldn't have to miss it."

"Well, that's nice of your sister."

"I'm sure it was largely Mum's doing, but oh well, Petunia will always be Petunia. How are your parents doing?"

"Fine, fine. Mum says Dad just got season tickets to Puddlemere United, which means that Sirius and I will have lots of Quidditch to look forward to this summer," James explained brightly.

Lily laughed at him and rolled her eyes, "You and Quidditch."

"Best sport there is."

The rest of their patrol passed with pleasant conversation and a few stolen minutes under the invisibility cloak at the end before they returned to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Saturday night came quickly and found James, Sirius, and Peter up in their dorm discussing their final plans for the evening. This was a typical ritual for the boys, to plan out their route and destination. Although the unknown made things fun, James and Sirius found it was better to have a basic outline of where they would go and what they would do before they started. Communicating in their animagus forms was slightly more complicated than in human for and it required them to focus on each other, as body language and eye contact were essential, and it tended to distract them from keeping an eye on Remus. In fact, the couple of times Remus had given them the slip in the past were because they were trying to decide what to do next and not paying enough attention to their friend.

"I think we should explore the village some more," Sirius suggested.

"The last time we explored the village we almost lost control of Remus," Peter pointed out.

"Wormtail's right mate," James agreed. "It took all the strength of both of us to keep him away from those villagers coming out of The Hogs Head. Even if they had just seen him the Ministry and Dumbledore would have instantly suspected Remus, as they know he's at Hogwarts."

"Well, how about the Forest then. We haven't been there since last year," Sirius suggested.

"Sure, that sounds like fun. We just have to watch out for the centaurs. They won't like it if they find a werewolf in their forest. I doubt they'd kill him but they'd definitely tell Dumbledore," James reminded the other two.

Peter and Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Remus and Pomfrey are at the Willow," Peter, who was keeping an eye on the map, said suddenly.

"Excellent," James replied. "Tell us when the coast is clear."

Twenty minutes later the three boys were down at the Willow. James reached into his pocket and removed Peter. It was easier for them to fit under the cloak if Peter transformed as the three boys were becoming far too tall for more than two of them to fit comfortably under it without risking giving themselves away. It was one thing if they got caught using it to sneak to the kitchens, getting caught sneaking to see Remus, however…

James and Sirius ducked down as one and James placed Peter on the ground. Peter ran over to the Willow and pushed the knot freezing the branches that had been trying to find the invisible James and Sirius. James and Sirius walked quickly over to the Willow, not coming out from under the cloak until they were right next to the tunnel. They would have gone down the tunnel under it if they could have fit through the entrance.

It was times like this that James envied Peter for being on the short side. True, Peter still had to duck in the tunnel, but not as much as James and Sirius.

They arrived at the entrance to the Shrieking Shack and Peter, who was in the lead, unlocked the door. The three boys entered the Shack and spotted Remus lying on the sofa looking absolutely miserable. The fact that he always looked like this before his transformations did little to comfort James. It wasn't fair that Remus, who was such a good person, had to suffer like he did.

"Hey, guys," Remus said as they entered.

"Hey," they replied.

"Ready for another crazy adventure, Moony?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"Yup, any minute now," Remus grinned back.

Suddenly Remus inhaled sharply. The other three recognized this as their cue and transformed just as the air was filled with the cracking of bones and a low snarling as Remus also transformed.

The wolf looked at the stag, the dog, and the rat and growled. Sirius growled in return and ran playfully at Remus, his tail wagging. The wolf sniffed at the dog and gave a friendlier growl as he recognized his friend. The two wrestled playfully for a moment and then the wolf turned his attention to the stag and the rat. He gave them a sniff and lunged playfully at the stag upon recognizing him.

James motioned with his head that they should get going. Peter slipped out through a passage the boys had created in the wall. It allowed Peter to exit the house, but even if someone found the hole one the outside they could not see through to the inside, as the hole inside the house didn't line up with the one outside.

Peter came out in a small space underneath the porch where he could transform back into a person without being seen. Checking around carefully, to make sure that no one was around, he unlocked the door to the house.

This was one of the most dangerous parts. James, Sirius, and Remus would exit the house and Wormtail was responsible for re-locking the door as soon as they exited. They had used every spell they could to protect Wormtail from Remus while he was underneath the porch. There were unbreakable charms one every inch of the wood lining the underside of the porch and they reasoned that if Remus ever got as far as the ground Peter would have plenty of time to transform before Remus got to him and escape back through the hole into the house. However, this was not a theory they wanted to test. James and Sirius always made sure that they went out the door first.

As soon as all four of Remus's paws were on the porch Peter quickly locked the door magically and transformed back into a rat. He had become quite proficient at this task and Remus barely had time to register the smell of a human before Peter had transformed and was scurrying out from under the porch through another small hole they had created for Peter's use.

As Peter scurried out James lowered his head to the ground and allowed Peter to scurry onto his back. As Peter was so small he had to ride on either James or Sirius's back because he wasn't able to keep up on his own. The boys had concluded that it was generally better for Peter to ride on James's back if possible. Sirius, being the same size as Remus, tended to roll on the ground when he fought with the wolf.

They found that the best way to keep Remus in check was to focus his attention on them. Sirius usually did this by playing tackle with him. He would jump at Remus at odd moments trying to catch him off guard. This in turn encouraged the Remus to do the same to Sirius. It was all in good fun and generally speaking neither hurt the other. James would join in the game on occasion to give Sirius a break but the James was a bit leery about his antlers and so left most of the playing to Sirius, who was much less likely to accidentally hurt Remus.

However, on the rare occasion that they had a close call with an inhabitant of Hogsmeade James was extremely glad to have his antlers, as they were generally effective at driving Remus back.

The three boys made their way happily to the Forbidden Forest. They spent most of the night exploring around in the underbrush with James paying careful attention to where they were to make sure avoided the giant spiders. They had spotted a couple of them once, but thankfully the spiders had not seen them. However, since then the boys had been careful to avoid the part of the forest where they had seen the spiders.

The boys had quite an enjoyable night. They sneaked back into the Shrieking Shack about half an hour before Remus was due to transform back. Peter slipped back under the porch and positioned himself to unlock the door. This part always made him nervous. The boys couldn't leave the door to unlocked while they were gone because even though the residents of Hogsmeade were terrified of the place the boys couldn't risk someone sneaking in if the door was unlocked and still being there when they returned. The trick was for Peter to transform back into his human form quickly while Sirius distracted Remus slightly away from the porch, and also upwind. As soon as the door was unlocked Peter would quickly transform back into his animagus form. James and Sirius would then prod Remus back inside. The second they were inside Peter would once again change back to his human form and magically seal the door. Peter would then consult the Marauder's Map to check on the whereabouts of Madame Pomfrey before transforming back into a rat once more and reentering the house.

As soon Remus transformed back into his human for James, Sirius, and Peter also transformed back. Peter would then give an update on the whereabouts of Madame Pomfrey. She was always fairly prompt in her fetching of Remus and it was rare that the other three boys had time to sneak out before her arrival.

It was probably unnecessary for Peter to check the map before reentering the house, as Madame Pomfrey had never started out down the tunnel until after the time when Remus transformed back, but they did it anyway. They were aware that her not entering the tunnel until after Remus was back in his human form was a safety measure, but they were always afraid her determination to get to her patient quickly would overcome this one day.

While all this had been going on the girls were enjoying a slightly calmer, though equally enjoyable party up in their dorm. Lily had used her knowledge of how to get into the kitchens to acquire some excellent pastries and butter beer.

"So Lily, how are things going with you and James?" Katie asked grinning innocently.

"Pretty good," Lily said smiling.

"See, you should have listened to us years ago," Marlene told her.

"No, I don't think it would have worked before," Lily replied. "James was too immature, he would have driven me mad."

"So are the rumors true?" Abby asked. "Is he as good a kisser as everyone says he is?"

"No," Lily replied laughing. "The rumors don't do him justice."

"I don't really understand how he got such a reputation as a ladies man anyway," Marlene said. "I mean, he really hasn't had that many girlfriends. You're what number five?"

"Four," Lily corrected.

"He's gone on dates with more than four girls though," Katie pointed out.

"True, but it's not like he's a man whore or anything," Marlene pointed out.

"I suppose that's true. He's not a use 'em and lose 'em kinda guy," Katie agreed fairly.

"If you're done analyzing my boyfriend…" Lily interrupted.

"Sorry," Katie and Marlene said simultaneously, both laughing.

"So Lily, how far have you and Mr. Potter gotten, hmm? With that lovely Head's Common Room at your disposal?" Katie asked grinning.

"Katie, we've only been dating a few weeks," Lily glowered.

"That far huh?" Katie said raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"We haven't done anything more than kiss," Lily said now turning red at what Katie was implying.

"Well that's no fun," Katie grinned cheekily.

"What about you and you're boyfriend Marcie?" Marlene asked turning the girls attention away from Lily.

Lily sighed inwardly. What she had said was entirely true, she and James had done no more than kiss. But did he want more? Lily definitely wasn't ready and besides that they'd only been together a few weeks. She knew James would never force her into doing anything she wasn't ready for, but did he want to? Had he? Lily shook herself mentally. She was being ridiculous. James hadn't even implied anything of the sort, in fact they had talked later that night they had gotten together and agreed to take things nice and slow. Hell, James had been the one to suggest it. He said he didn't want to screw things up. Maybe he had done 'it' before?

Lily sighed, she'd just have to wait until morning to ask him. She didn't want to disrupt his guys' night and she didn't want her friends giving her a hard time for trying to find him. She looked out the window, the full moon shown down brightly making the Hogwarts grounds glow. 'Yes,' she thought, 'I'll just have to wait until morning.'


	22. Chapter 22 Awkward Questions

Disclaimer: After 21 chapters of disclaimers you'd think I'd have made it abundantly clear that I do not in fact own Harry Potter. Shocking I know, but true. Harry, may he marry Ginny Weasley and live to be 150, belongs to JK Rowling.

**A/N: So I've been doing some general editing of my story. Mostly for grammar but I've added some stuff to this chapter in addition to fixing some rather impressive typos that I can't believe I missed before. Mostly it's the same chapter I've just added some more of Lily's thoughts to the L/J conversation and made a couple of other tweaks that make the chapter more what I want it to be, though there's still room for improvement. Constructive crisicism is always appreciated.**

Chapter 22 Awkward Questions

Sunday passed in a flurry of homework. Lily felt like her teachers were operating under the belief that each of their respective classes was the only one the seventh years were taking. Lily was so busy that she didn't have the opportunity to talk to James about the question that had been bothering her since Katie had inadvertently planted it in her brain the night before.

After dinner found her studying Herbology in the common room with Marlene, Katie, James and his friends. Lily had been shocked when Sirius had joined them and actually appeared to be studying.

"Can I quit school?" Sirius asked about half an hour after they sat down. "I mean, how can they expect us to get all this done?"

"Well, if you didn't put it all off until the last minute," Remus pointed out.

"Oh, sod off, Moony," Sirius replied good-naturedly.

"Well, you asked," James pointed out. "And what are you complaining about. It's not like you're all that busy. I mean if I can keep up with my homework between Quidditch, Head duties, and trying to have a life, you shouldn't have any trouble at all."

"Bloody prat," Sirius mumbled under his breath.

James laughed. "Just because you're bitter that I've become responsible is no reason to be snippy," James said grinning cheekily.

"You want to be boring, that's your problem," Sirius retorted.

When Lily woke up on Monday morning she was still preoccupied with her question. In fact as time went on it was bothering her more, rather than less. She found it difficult to pay attention in class as her mind kept wandering to it. Had he? If he had, what did that mean for their relationship? Did it bother him that she wasn't ready? If he had, whom had it been with?

Suddenly she felt someone hitting her in the leg. She looked up and gave Katie, who was the culprit, a questioning look.

"Miss Evans," McGonagall's voice rang out.

"Yes, Professor," Lily said flushing slightly. "Well, now that you have decided to pay attention perhaps you can explain the complexities involved in transfiguring a human into and amphibian?"

"Um…" Lily replied.

"Pay attention Miss Evans or it will be detention," Professor McGonagall said.

"Now, who can answer the question?"

This was the pattern of Lily's day, even when she was with her friends and trying to do her homework.

Eventually, nine o'clock rolled around and it was time for James and Lily's patrol. Lily knew that she needed to talk to James or she was going to go crazy, but she had no idea how to broach the subject. Thankfully, James brought it up, although indirectly.

"Are you okay, Lily?" James asked after about five minutes of silent patrolling. "You've been distracted all day."

Lily looked at James nervously.

"What's wrong? Have I done something to upset you?" James asked, now looking a bit nervous himself.

"No, I…well…" Lily tried to speak but that her brain and her mouth were refusing to cooperate with each other.

James stopped walking and looked around. Then he ushered Lily into the nearest empty classroom.

"All right. Obviously something is bothering you. And although I have no idea what it might be, I get the distinct impression that I'm involved in some way," James said.

Lily bit her lip and shuffled her feet nervously. Now that he had brought up the subject she had no idea how to approach it.

"Hey, it's okay, it's just me," James said taking Lily's hands in his and rubbing the backs of them with his thumbs. "What's wrong?"

A horrible thought suddenly occurred to him. Did she want to break up with him? She seemed happy. But she has been acting rather oddly since Sunday. James's stomach suddenly felt like he had eaten something wriggly, his pulse quickened, and he felt a bit shaky.

"I, well, I was talking with the girls on Saturday," Lily began.

"Okay," James said slowly.

"And I know they were just giving me a hard time, but it got me thinking, and I, well…" Lily trailed off.

"Thinking about what?" James asked in what he hoped was a soothing voice. He was having trouble suppressing the nervousness rising within him. He found the idea of Lily breaking up with him made him feel rather nauseous.

"Well, they brought up the fact that we have the Head's Common Room all to ourselves…" again Lily trailed off.

Why was this so hard? She never had trouble talking to James about anything. Damn Katie for putting it into her head.

James relaxed slightly, though only slightly. If Lily's worries stemmed from something to do with the Head's Common room he couldn't really see how breaking up with him fit in the equation. Though that didn't mean it wasn't possible.

"And well, they made some rather, suggestive comments about what we do in there…"

James looked at her quizzically now. It wasn't that he couldn't guess what the suggestive comments were, it was more the fact that he couldn't figure out why they would bother Lily so much. They hadn't done anything more than a bit of snogging, and he knew that even if Lily's friends gave her a hard time about it, they would believe Lily if she said they hadn't done anything besides a bit of snogging.

"But it got me thinking…and I, well…"

Lily's mind was going at a hundred miles an hour. Maybe it would be better if she just didn't ask.

"Lily, what's wrong?" James asked still not sure about where this was going.

"And they wanted to know if the rumors about you being a good snog were true…"

James couldn't help the snort that escaped. "Sorry," he said.

Lily was looking at her feet. She could bring herself to look at James. If she did she was sure she would chicken out and she had to know.

"So, what is it that's bothering you?" James asked.

"Well, then we were discussing your past relationships. You do have rather the reputation as a ladies man…"

"You know full well that I've had a grand total of four girlfriends, including you," James pointed out. "Mostly it's just talk."

"Yeah, I know. But most rumors are based in truth. And it got me wondering…"

Lily found she was having trouble saying the question she wanted to ask. It was like it was trapped between her brain and her mouth. The words simply refused to come out.

"Yes?" James prodded gently.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd ever…" again Lily trailed off.

"If I've ever what?" James had a feeling he knew where this was going but he wanted to be sure first.

"If you'd ever…you know," Lily looked at him at this point with raised eyebrows.

"If I've ever shagged any of them?" James asked quietly.

Lily looked away, feeling stupid at her inability to say the words, but she nodded.

James sighed. It was times like these that he hated the Hogwarts rumor mill. Though when you locked that many teenagers in a building together he supposed it was inevitable.

James reached out with his right hand and placed it on Lily's cheek, gently turning her face so she was looking at him.

She eyed him nervously, trying to deduce the answer from his expression, but it was unreadable.

"This is really bothering you isn't it?" James said soothingly rubbing her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

Lily gave him a look that was cross between anxiousness and annoyance that he wasn't answering her question. Why was he just looking at her? Why wasn't he answering? Oh Merlin, he had, hadn't he? Why was she asking? She didn't really want to know. She wasn't sure she could live up to those kinds of expectations. She simply wasn't ready.

"No, I haven't," he replied, not wanting to upset her further. "I won't deny that I've thought about it, what guy hasn't, but have I ever done it, no."

"Oh," was all Lily said feeling stupider and more embarrassed by the minute.

Her monosyllabic answer gave James the impression that, while this was the root of Lily's worry, there was a bit more to it.

"What else is bothering you?" he asked gently.

Lily looked at the floor. James was rather surprised at how shy she was being. This was very out of character for Lily whom was usually straight forward and not afraid to voice her opinion.

"I like you a lot," James ploughed on, hoping his instincts where right about what else was bothering her. "But, you know I would never pressure you into anything you aren't ready for. And, to be honest, I don't want to, at least not right now. I don't want to screw this up and shagging could definitely screw this up."

Lily looked at him with a slightly nervous smile. He hadn't and he didn't seem to think she was a total idiot.

"Are we okay?" James asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for being so stupid," Lily said nervously.

"You're not being stupid," James replied. "I know what the rumor mill says. It could make anyone a bit paranoid."

"Thank you," she replied with a grin.

"Now then, we have social deviants to find and punish!" James said grinning and taking Lily's hand to lead her out of the classroom.

An hour, and several social deviants, later James and Lily's patrol came to an end.

As they climbed through the portrait hole Lily yawned loudly, covering her mouth to try and hide it.

"Tired?" James asked smirking.

"Extremely," Lily replied. "I'm going to bed. I'll finish my homework tomorrow."

"Alright, good night," James said giving Lily a quick kiss.

Lily smiled at him and then went off to bed.

James went up to his dorm and flopped down on his bed.

"Rough night?" Sirius asked

"Eh," James replied.

"Did you find out what was wrong with Lily?" Peter asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah, she was acting a bit odd today. Not paying attention in class and all," Sirius said off handedly.

"Yeah…" James said, mildly annoyed that his friends had thought to ask. He really didn't think Lily would appreciate him sharing her worries with his friends.

"Well?" Sirius asked. "You gonna share or what?"

"I'd really rather not," James replied.

"You mean she'd rather you not," Remus replied.

"Well, there's that too," James agreed picking up a Quaffle that was laying next to his bed and tossing it up into the air.

James repeatedly tossed the Quaffle for a moment thinking that his friends had decided to drop the topic.

"So, what had her knickers all in a twist? I mean, it must have been something big for her to not pay attention in class," Sirius said carelessly levitating his schoolbooks on top of one another.

"None of your business," James informed him.

"Well, now you've peaked my interest," Sirius replied. "Come on, tell us. You know you want to," Sirius said in what could almost be described as a singsong voice.

"Shut-it, Sirius," James said.

"Come on, James, we're you're best mates. You know you want to tell us," Sirius pressed further.

James sighed and continued to toss the Quaffle. It made a lovely echoing sound, rather like a basketball, when he caught it. Perhaps if he simply ignored Sirius, he would eventually give up. No such luck.

"Come on mate. Really, what was up with her?" Sirius asked again.

"You're a prat, you know that right?" James asked.

"So you've told me before," Sirius replied. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"She wanted to know if half the crap the rumor mill comes out with about me was true," James replied.

"Well, if she hasn't decided for herself if you're a good snog yet, clearly you're doing something wrong," Sirius said cheekily.

James sighed. "Those, weren't the rumors I was referring to," he grumbled. "I really don't have any objection to those rumors. And believe me, Lily will happily confirm them," James replied grinning. "Though maybe not to you," he added.

"She wanted to know if you'd ever shagged any of them," Remus spoke again and James, much to his chagrin, noticed that once again it wasn't in the form of a question.

"Thanks, Moony," James mumbled.

"She seriously asked you that?!" Sirius exclaimed, laughing so hard that he dropped the book he was currently levitating, knocking over the rest of the stack he'd been working on for the past 15 minutes.

"Yes," James grumbled.

"What did you tell her?" Sirius asked.

"The truth. That no, I hadn't," James replied.

"And I still say it's your loss," Sirius informed him.

"Whatever you say, Padfoot," James replied returning to tossing the Quaffle.

"I don't see why it bothers you so much?" Peter said. "It's not like you have, unless for some odd reason the truth upset her. Though after knowing Lily for seven years I have trouble picturing that."

"Besides the rumors never bothered you before," Sirius added.

"Yeah, well they've never had much of an affect on me before either," James pointed out. "It's not that I really care even, it just bugs me. I hate the gossip mill."

"Yeah, well, not much you can do about. Might as well get over it," Sirius said.

"I suppose," James sighed. "And don't tell Lily I said anything. I think she might hex me into oblivion."

"Your secrets safe with us," Sirius replied, turning his attention back to building a new book tower.

"So, when's the next full moon?" Peter asked.


	23. Chapter 23 Hogsmeade Again

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter…

Chapter 23 Hogsmeade Again

It was now less than two weeks until the students went home for Christmas and the students were excited because it was the last Hogsmeade trip of the term. The girls had woken up fairly early, for a Saturday, and we're busy getting ready.

"So what are you and James going to do today?" Katie asked.

"I'm not sure," Lily replied. "I really don't care, honestly, as long as it doesn't involve Madame Pudifoot's."

Marlene laughed. "I can't see James going into Madame Pudifoot's if it was that or death."

Lily laughed, "Me either. It's part of his appeal. If he wanted to take me to Madame Pudifoot's I'd be forced to tell him, 'sorry, but it's not going to work out.'"

Katie and Marlene laughed.

"Come on you two, let's go to breakfast. I'm starving," Lily said.

The girls walked into the Great Hall and Lily spotted James and his friends sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table. Lily quickly led her friends towards the boys.

James smiled as she sat down next to him and he leaned over to give her a quick kiss. "Morning beautiful," he said turning back to his breakfast.

"Morning, James," Lily smiled reaching for the eggs.

"You ready for our date," James asked grinning at her.

"Oh, didn't I tell you, I can't go with you," Lily said with a completely straight face.

"What!?" James asked shocked. "But…you said…"

"I know," Lily said cutting him off. "But Kingsley Shacklebot asked me and I just couldn't say no," Lily explained.

James looked at Lily with his mouth open slightly. "You are kidding…right?" James asked looking slightly worried.

Lily couldn't take it any more she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry," she wheezed, "but you should have seen your face. It was priceless."

"Well, if that's the way you feel about it, I don't know if I want to go with you," James said folding his arms across his chest and turning away from Lily.

"Oh James, you know I was kidding," Lily said playfully. "I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. She knew he wasn't really angry and she wasn't really sorry but she was willing to play along.

"Well, I suppose I can forgive you," James said ponderously. "But only if you go to Madame Pudifoot's with me."

"James Potter, I know full well you'd never be caught dead in there," Lily replied crossing her arms and giving him a skeptical look.

"Okay, so maybe you're right," he grinned. "But that was cruel."

"True," Lily agreed. "But you fell for it," she added laughing.

"Yeah, yeah," James grumbled turning his attention back to his breakfast.

"You know I like you the best of all my boyfriends," Lily told him grinning playfully.

"You'd better," James replied grinning now.

Lily reached out her hand and squeezed his smiling happily. Then she turned back to her breakfast.

An hour later found James and Lily walking down to Hogsmeade. Amazingly enough they were alone. James had somehow managed to get his friends to leave them alone.

"So, you ready to go home for Christmas?" James asked

"Yeah, it'll be nice to have a break from classes," Lily said.

"Shame we can't say the same thing about homework," James laughed.

"Yeah, no kidding. I think they're trying to kill us with work."

"I thought you enjoyed homework?" James asked grinning.

"You have been misinformed," Lily replied.

James laughed and wrapped his arm around Lily's waist pulling her closer to him and planting a quick kiss on the top of her head.

Lily smiled. She looked down the path ahead of them as Hogsmeade came into view. It had snowed a few days before and the village was covered in a white blanket. She loved Hogsmeade at Christmas time. It reminded her of a Christmas Card.

"So, where do you want to go today?" James asked.

"The usual," Lily replied.

"And what would the usual be?" James asked. "As we've never actually spent a whole day in Hogsmeade together."

"Oh, right," Lily replied.

"How about we start with Honeyduke's," James suggested. "My mother loves this one kind of chocolate with coconut that they sell and I thought I'd get her some for Christmas."

"Sounds like the beginnings of a good plan," Lily said grinning.

They went into Honeyduke's and James ordered the chocolate for his mother while Lily looked around at the 'newest arrivals,' including sherbet balls that made you levitate off the ground while you sucked on them.

"So, what do you want?" James asked coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Huh?" Lily asked.

"What do you want? Pick something," James replied.

"Oh, James you don't have too…"

James cut her off. "I know, but I want to. Consider it an early Christmas present."

"You really don't…"

James put his finger to her lips silencing her. "Arguing will get you no where, I'm way more stubborn and persistent than you," James said.

Lily sighed and then smiled. "Alright, if it will make you happy."

"Very," James replied smiling.

Lily and James spent about twenty minutes examining the different sweets before Lily finally decided on some chocolate and a couple of the levitating sherbet balls.

"Thank you, James," Lily said for the hundredth time as they left the shop.

"It's no big deal, Lily," James said smiling.

"Yeah, but…" James cut Lily off with a kiss.

"You were saying?"

"I forget," Lily said.

James just grinned and took Lily's hand as they began to walk down the High Street.

Lily and James spent another couple of hours wandering around Hogsmeade looking for Christmas presents for James's father, Lily's parents, and their friends. They ended their trip with a butter beer from the Three Broomsticks.

A/N: Sorry this was so short but the next chapter will be up soon so don't worry. 158 days to HPDH!!!


	24. Chapter 24 Headin' Home for the Holidays

Disclaimer: Amazingly enough, even after 24 chapters, JK Rowling still owns the Harry Potter Universe.

Chapter 24 Headin' Home for the Holidays

The remainder of the time up until the Christmas Holidays flew by and it seemed, to Lily, that it was suddenly the night before they were to go home for the Christmas Holidays. It was ten o'clock and Lily and James had the late patrol shift. Lily didn't really mind. There were always fewer students to catch on this patrol than the one from nine to ten.

Lily and James walked down the hall in comfortable silence. James had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was looking up and down the hall as they walked. Lily was glad his hands were in his pockets because that was the only thing that was keeping her from reaching out and grabbing one of them. They had both agreed to separate their working relationship from their personal one. They both, rather reluctantly, agreed that getting caught snogging on patrol, by the students they were supposed to be catching snogging, would make their authority less than affective.

"You all ready for Christmas?" James asked breaking the comfortable silence.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to see my family again," Lily said.

"You?"

"Yeah, Christmas at the Potter House is always quite enjoyable," James replied. "Um, Lily, I was wondering something," James began.

"Yeah?" Lily asked not looking at him as she had taken over looking up and down the corridor.

"My mother owled me, and she and my dad want to meet you," James explained.

"Oh," Lily said now giving James her full attention.

"My mother said something about coming to Kings Cross, even though they don't actually have to come, to pick Sirius and I up," James explained.

"Oh," Lily said again, butterflies seemed to have magically appeared in her stomach.

"I suggested just having you over for dinner, which my mother would also like, but they've got this weird old fashioned thing, bit annoying really. But I thought I should forewarn you and also ask if you'd like to come to dinner of course," James rushed.

Lily nodded, "Okay…"

"They're really nice and I'm certain they'll just love you," James said encouragingly.

"Alright, but you'll have to meet my parents then," Lily grinned.

"Fair enough," James said running his hand through his hair. The only outward sign he gave that the idea made him slightly nervous.

The next morning was a bit crazy with students running around doing last minute packing, trying to get all their belongings into the Entrance Hall, and still have time to grab some breakfast in the Great Hall, before heading down to Hogsmeade Station to hop on the Hogwarts Express. Lily and James were even busier than everyone else was, as they had to help supervise the chaos that was the luggage in the Entrance Hall. They had to make sure that the luggage didn't block the front doors, the stairwells, or the entrance to the Great Hall itself.

The ride to London was fairly dull throughout the late morning and early afternoon but the peace was not to last all the way home.

Around three o'clock Lily and James were patrolling the corridors, which seemed pleasantly quiet, which was surprising with all the holiday excitement in the air. It was in the last car that they encountered some trouble.

As they walked down the aisle Snape came out of the bathroom. Spotting them, he glared angrily. From what James had heard, Snape's Housemates had not been at all pleased when they discover that it was Snape who was responsible for losing seventy-five points for Slytherin. He had also received weekend detentions for all of November and December, both Saturday and Sunday, with Minerva McGonagall. Needless to say he was not happy with James, at all.

When he saw them approaching he sneered distastefully. "Well, well, if it isn't the Blood Traitor and his Mudblood whore," Snape spat at them.

Next to her Lily could feel James tense. "Snape, did you learn nothing from your punishment?" James asked. His voice was shaking though Lily could tell he was trying very hard to remain calm and collect.

"Has she really got you that whipped or is it simply that you know you can't take me without your pathetic little friends?" Snape asked. His wand was suddenly in his hand though James was unable to recall exactly when it got there.

"Don't rise, it's what he wants," Lily whispered.

"Put your wand away Snape, I'm not gonna fight you," James said in frustration.

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't want to do anything to upset your precious little Mudblood, now would you," Snape sneered.

Suddenly, Snape collapsed to the floor and began to laugh uncontrollably. James stared at him, completely bewildered by Snape's odd behavior. Suddenly he caught sight of Lily out of the corner of his eye.

She was standing there, with her wand out, and a look of satisfaction on her face.

"A tickling jinx?" James asked curiously.

"It was the first thing that came to mind that wouldn't cause him serious physical injury," Lily said with a shrug. "Besides, in the medieval period they used to use tickling as a method of torture," she added.

"Why, Miss Evans, I didn't know you had such a devious streak," James grinned.

During this exchange Snape was still rolling on the floor with laughter. He was trying alternately to say the counter-curse and to curse James or Lily. At least that was what it looked like to James, though as Snape was currently laughing uncontrollably, and incapable of coherent speech, it was hard to tell. James almost wished he had known just how ticklish Snape was before, he would have used that jinx on him ages ago.

James and Lily continued their inspection of the last car keeping a careful eye on Snape, less he manage to speak and send a curse their way. It wasn't until they were ready to leave the car and head back to the Head's Compartment, to write up a report on their encounter with Snape to send back to school, that Lily finally took the jinx off him. She actually pondered simply leaving it until someone found him, but she figured it would be much harder to justify doing that than jinxing him in the first place. He had been about to attack them; she had been justified in acting quickly in self-defense. Leaving the curse on him, however, well, she had a feeling the McGonagall wouldn't accept, 'the bloody arse had it coming,' as an excuse.

As they walked down the train back to the compartment James couldn't help but admire how calm Lily was. He was so angry that he could feel his whole body shaking, he didn't understand how she could walk down the train so calmly, as though nothing had happened. He kept glancing behind them in case Snape was following them, though he really didn't expect him to.

How could Lily be so calm? It baffled him. Yet at the same time he couldn't help admire her composure as they stopped and she helped a first year that had had his hair turned purple by his friend as a joke and now couldn't fix it.

They entered the Head's Compartment and James let out a sigh. While he was still angry with Snape, at least he didn't have to worry about him sneaking up on them for a few minutes.

He turned to Lily, "That was quite impressive back there. I didn't know you had it in you."

"He was going to hex us, I wasn't about to let him. I can't believe he said that!" she shouted the last part.

"HOW CAN HE STAND THERE AND SAY THOSE THINGS AFTER TWO SOLID MONTHS OF WEEKEND DETENTIONS AND LOSING ALL THOSE POINTS FOR HIS HOUSE!" With that Lily burst into tears and collapsed against James's chest.

James was stunned. He'd never, ever, seen Lily let Snape get to her like this. She'd been so composed walking down the train what had happened in the last ten seconds.

"Hey," he whispered, "It's okay." James wrapped his arms around her running one hand gently through her long red hair. "Shhhh, it's alright. He's a bastard. What he says doesn't matter."

Lily took a deep, shaky breath trying to compose herself. She had been doing so well; she had made it all the way from the other end of the train. James was right, he was just a bastard. Why was she letting him get to her? She hated it when he got to her. But damn it, the words stung!

Her mind wandered back to the last time she'd let him get to her. James and Sirius had picked a fight with him and she had tried to stand up for him.

'I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!'

He had yelled this in front of most of the fifth and seventh years, all of which were outside relaxing before the practical section of their DADA exam. She had held her composure perfectly while she was in front of everyone, but as soon as she was alone she had completely lost it.

A person had limits damn it! At least Snape hadn't witnessed the affect he'd had on her either time. She hated that he got to her like this. She always thought of herself as a strong person. She hated this feeling of weakness and she hated the fact that he could make her feel this way with just his words.

It wasn't even so much Snape calling her a Mudblood, it more his slight against her and James's relationship. He made it sound like their dating was some sort of horrible crime against nature. She knew what Snape said didn't matter. She knew that James didn't care that she was Muggle born but she knew that there were other people that felt the same way as Snape.

And what about James's parents? Would they care? Part of her said she was being ridiculous. James didn't care, and if his parents cared wouldn't James's attitude be different? Sirius didn't agree with his family, who thought all Muggle borns were scum. And Sirius had run away to James's house when he couldn't take his family's Pure Blood mania anymore, she had learned upon discovering that Sirius would be spending the holidays at James's house.

James sighed. Why did some people have to be such bigots? He didn't understand peoples' obsession with blood. His parents always told him that it didn't matter what you were born, what mattered was what you became. He could still remember the first time he had heard the word Mudblood.

He and his father had been in Diagon Alley and had stopped at the Leaky Cauldron. James had been sitting at a table waiting for his father who had gone over to talk to one of his friends he had spotted. He had been sitting near two wizards who had been talking about Hogwarts. James, who couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts when he was 11, had been listening to their conversation, even though his mother said it was rude to eavesdrop.

One of the wizards had a son, who was in fifth year and had been made Prefect, whatever that was. The man was complaining about another student his son said had become a Prefect as well. James couldn't remember the exact wording any more but it was something to the effect of, 'I can't believe Dumbledore would go and make some stupid Mudblood a Prefect. Like we should have to take orders from their kind.' The other had nodded in agreement.

After that they had gotten up and headed out of the pub. It was then that James's father had come to sit back down.

'You looked puzzled son, what's wrong?' his father had asked.

'Dad,' seven year old James had asked, 'What's a Mudblood?'

'Where did you hear that word?' his father had asked. James was startled at how harsh his father's voice and expression had suddenly become.

'The two men sitting at the table were saying something about them. Something about Dumbledore making one of them something at Hogwarts and how people shouldn't have to take orders from their kind,' James explained nervously.

His father looked angry now. He looked around but the men in question were walking out the door.

'So…so what is a Mudblood. Why…' James trailed off at the look he was getting from his father. 'Sorry…' James trailed off again. He didn't understand. His parents always encouraged him to ask questions when he didn't understand something, why did his father look so angry?

Mr. Potter took a deep breath. 'Mudblood is a term that some wizards use to refer to a witch or wizard, who is born to Muggle parents,' his father began. 'It is a horrid and nasty word. People use it because they think being a pure blood wizard makes them better than others.'

'Pure blood wizard?' James asked.

'It means they can trace their family's back through generations of wizards,' his father explained.

'Like us?' James asked.

'Well, yes,' Mr. Potter replied. 'However, just because we can trace our family back practically to the Founders time doesn't make us better than any one else. There are Muggle borns and half bloods in our family too. Not that it matters,' he added. 'If we hadn't married Muggles we'd have died out. If you only let your children marry pure bloods you're options are very limited these days.'

'So, Mudblood just means someone whose parents are both Muggles?' James asked.

'Yes and no,' said his father. 'It is a term to refer to Muggle born wizards yes, but it's meaning is much deeper. It is terribly insulting. It means that their blood is dirty. That somehow being born to Muggle parents makes them less important than those of us whom can trace our family through generations of wizards. There are wizards who believe Muggle borns aren't good enough to attend Hogwarts. This is not true. Some of the most talented witches and wizards of our age have been Muggle born.'

'Oh,' James replied.

'Yes, so I better not ever hear you use that word again. Do you understand?' his father asked though sounding slightly less harsh than in the beginning.

'Yes,' James answered.

'Good, because if I ever hear you use it or hear that you've used it I will take away your broom and donate it to the Hogwarts school brooms and never buy you another one. In addition I will write to Professor Dumbledore and inform him that you are not allowed to participate in flying lessons with the other first years, nor will you ever be allowed to play Quidditch on your House team should you desire to do so.' Mr. Potter said this all so seriously that James was left in no doubt that he really would.

'Yes, sir,' James replied.

This was the first time James had ever seen his father in 'serious mode.' It was probably part of the reason James took him so seriously when he looked like that.

Lily had finally calmed down, though James still had his arms wrapped around her.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"It's alright," James whispered kissing the top of her head.

"I hate it when I let him get to me," she sighed. "I should be able to ignore him."

"Sometimes words hurt. Even when you know they're just words," James said. "Just remember, not all of us think the way Snivelly does."

"I know," Lily sniffed.

James relaxed his grip on Lily and took a step back so he could see her face. He placed his hands on her cheeks, wiped away the remaining tears from her cheeks, and looked deep into her eyes. He loved those dark green pools. He could spend hours lost in them. How could anyone insult someone as beautiful as Lily?

And he didn't just mean physically beautiful, though she was. It had been her appearance that had first enticed James, but as time went on he had grown to also see how beautiful she was on the inside as well. How she stood up for what she believed in, even if nobody around her agreed with her. How she was always kind to everyone, even when they didn't necessarily deserve it. With that thought James leaned in, wrapped his arms around her, and gave Lily a gentle, yet passionate, kiss.

Lily instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her tiptoes to reach him better. They stayed that way for quite a while completely lost in each other.

Lily caught a glimpse of the clock and realized what time it was. They needed to go and change; the train would be arriving in London in less than an hour.

"James, we need to get ready," Lily said pulling away.

James looked at the clock and sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"James," Lily hesitated. "Please don't tell anyone, about…about Snape or my lack of control…"

James nodded and took Lily's hand, bringing it to his lips he kissing it gently. Together they headed back down to the compartment where their friends were.

"Would you like to come to dinner at my house tomorrow? My mum says it's alright." James asked as they walked.

"Sure, I'll have to ask my parents though," Lily smiled.

"Excellent," James grinned, placing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to him.

Finally they reached the compartment and entered. They spent the remainder of the ride relaxing and laughing with their friends.


	25. Chapter 25 At King's Cross

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. He belongs to JKR, who is, thankfully, kind enough to let us borrow his story for our own amusement as long as we do not receive any financial compensation.

Chapter 25 At King's Cross Station

Mr. and Mrs. Potter stood in King's Cross waiting for their sons to arrive. True it was unnecessary for them to do so, as the boys could apparate home, but they wanted 'to meet this Lily Evans we've been hearing so much about.'

Mr. Potter looked around him. He found Muggles and their inventions highly interesting. As he looked around he noticed a couple standing near them. They were smiling and talking quietly to each other. Occasionally one would glance at the clock and then glance towards Platforms 9 and 10. As their was no train scheduled to arrive on Platform 10 for over an hour and the train that had arrived on Platform 9 was almost empty Mr. Potter couldn't help but wonder if perhaps they were waiting for the Hogwarts Express as well. Mr. Potter chuckled inwardly. At least the observation skills he'd learned as an Auror still had some use in his retirement.

He hoped they were waiting for the Hogwarts Express. He had never had the opportunity to get a Muggle perspective on Wizards. All the Muggles he had contact with who saw magic had their memories modified.

"Hello," a smiling Mr. Potter said to the couple. "Who are you waiting for?"

"Oh, our daughter is coming home from school," the woman replied. "How about you?"

"Oh, we're waiting for our son," Mr. Potter replied pleasantly. "Where does your daughter go to school?"

When he asked this Mrs. Potter gave him a significant look. Asking that would lead to the couple asking where James went.

"Oh, it's a small school up North, you've probably never heard of it," the woman answered evasively.

"Our son goes to a small school up North too, most people haven't heard of it either, actually," Mr. Potter replied jovially.

"Really?" the woman asked nervously. "Is there a teacher named…Slug…Slug.."

"Slughorn?" Mr. Potter supplied.

"Yes, that's it!"

"Why yes, there is," Mr. Potter smiled. "Smart man, really knows his potions. Little odd maybe, but a good teacher."

"That's what our daughter says too," the woman smiled. "So what year is your son in?"

"Seventh, and your daughter?"

The woman smiled, "She's a seventh year as well. In Gryffindor. She's Head Girl this year," the woman added smiling proudly.

"Your Lily's parents?" Mrs. Potter asked speaking for the first time.

"Yes," Mrs. Evans answered in surprise. "I'm Rose and this is my husband, John."

"Well, it's a pleasure to be able to meet you," Mrs. Potter said holding out her hand. "I'm Evelyn Potter and this is my husband Rupert. We're James's parents," she explained smiling.

"Well, that's what she says," Mr. Potter said cheekily. "But personally, I blame the milk man," Mr. Potter grinned.

"Rupert!" Mrs. Potter admonished, but Mr. and Mrs. Evans both laughed.

"It's nice to meet you," Mr. Potter said more seriously. "Our son seems quite taken with your daughter."

"The feeling seems to be quite mutual," Mrs. Evans replied smiling and shaking Mr. Potters hand.

"The train should be here by now," Mr. Evans said looking up at the clock.

"They probably have to supervise the unloading of the train," Mr. Potter said. "Plus the Porter only let's a few people through the barrier at time, to keep people from noticing," Mr. Potter explained pleasantly.

As if to prove him right Sirius suddenly appeared beside them.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter," Sirius said politely.

"Sirius," Mr. Potter smiled. "Did you have a pleasant journey?"

"Yes, sir," Sirius replied.

"Good. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, this is Sirius Black, the son we always wanted," Mr. Potter said smiling.

Sirius grinned. "Lily's parents?" he asked no on in particular.

"Yes, dear," Mrs. Potter replied smiling indulgently.

"Pleasure to meet you both," Sirius said shaking each of their hands in turn.

"Sirius, have you seen our other son?" Mr. Potter asked.

"He was supervising the unloading of the train and such," Sirius said mischievously.

"I assume Lily was with him?" Mr. Potter asked.

"Of course. I offered to perform a Permanent Sticking Charm, but James threatened me with bodily harm, so I came on ahead," Sirius grinned.

"Permanent Sticking Charm?" asked Mr. Evans confused.

"Never mind," Mrs. Potter said waving an admonitory finger at Sirius and Mr. Potter, both of whom were chuckling at Sirius's joke.

"Sirius, what have you been saying?" James asked as he and Lily approached the group.

"Nothing," Sirius replied feigning innocents.

"Lily, there you are," said Mr. Evans spotting his daughter.

"Hi Dad, hi Mum," Lily replied hugging each of her parents in turn.

James hung back nervously watching Lily greet her parents.

"Hello, son," Mr. Potter said.

"Hi Dad, hi Mum," James said glancing at his parents and then turning back to watch Lily.

"Mum, Dad," Lily said coming over and taking James by the hand, "this is James."

James smiled nervously and held out his hand.

"Mr. Evans, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Mr. Evans gave James an appraising look that made James even more nervous. Mr. Evans then reached out and took James's outstretched hand.

"Ah, a nice firm handshake, that's what I like to see," Mr. Evans began. "I hope you have been treating my daughter respectfully," it was not a question.

"Yes, sir. Lily deserves nothing but the best," James said looking Mr. Evans right in the eye. He was nervous but he was not going to let Mr. Evans know that he was slightly intimidated by him.

At this Mr. Evans smiled. "Good, good. Well, you appear to be a nice young man," Mr. Evans said. "I suppose only time will tell."

"Oh, John, be nice," Mrs. Evans said smiling.

Then she turned to James, "Rose Evans, it's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Evans," James said smiling.

"Mum," Lily chimed in. "James invited me to dinner tomorrow, could I go?" Lily asked hopefully.

"Not tomorrow, dear. We're having Vernon over for dinner. Any other night would be fine, but not tomorrow."

"Perhaps, James would like to join us for dinner," Mr. Evans suggested. "If it's alright with his parents of course."

Mr. and Mrs. Potter looked at each other and nodded.

"It's alright with us," Mrs. Potter replied. "As long as you introduce us to her first," she added smiling at James.

James flushed slightly, "Oh, right," he said sheepishly. "Mum, Dad, this is Lily," James said smiling.

"It's nice to finally meet you dear, we've heard so much about you," Mrs. Potter said taking Lily's hand. "You're every bit as pretty as James described."

Both Lily and James flushed when she said this.

"Lily, it's a pleasure," Mr. Potter said. "And I'd like to apologize for your having to put up with my son. I know how insufferable he can be."

Lily laughed. "Why thank you, Mr. Potter."

Lily was surprised at how old James' parents were. She had never really seen them properly before. She knew that James said they had waited till later to have him but she didn't realize just how old they actually were. Not that they acted old, but still. Though now that she thought about it, it went a long way in explaining why James was the way he was.

"Lily, dear, I hate to cut this short but we have a bit of a drive ahead of us and I'd like to get home before midnight," Mr. Evans said.

"Okay," Lily replied.

"James," Mrs. Evans began.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Dinner will be at seven, but feel free to arrive any time after 5:30. Mr. Evans and I would like to have time to get to know you better."

James nodded, "Thank you for inviting me."

"Not at all dear," she replied. "Do you know where we live?"

"Oh, no, I don't."

Mrs. Evans reached into her purse and pulled out a pen and paper and handed them to Lily. "I'll let you write it dear, you know what information he needs."

Lily nodded and wrote down their address.

"Apparate into my room," Lily instructed. "You can't apparate outside 'cause the neighbors might see and anywhere else might startle Petunia."

Mr. and Mrs. Evans nodded in agreement.

"We'll see you tomorrow around five-thirty," Mr. Evans said.

"It was nice to meet you, Lily," Mrs. Potter said.

Before turning to follow her parents Lily reached up and gave James a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, Lily," he said smiling.

Once the Evans's had left the Potters and Sirius headed to a place that they could safely apparate home from.


	26. Chapter 26 Of Interrogations

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. It's been crazy what with tests and English camp looming and trying to edit some of the kinks out of the story. I'm also having a bit of writers block…grr…anybody have a good remedy? Oh and we can't forget:

Disclaimer: Please don't sue. I don't own Harry Potter and therefore having nothing for you to take, so it would really be a waste of your time, money, and effort anyway.

Chapter 26 Of Interrogations

Lily's father put her trunk in the car and then the three of them climbed into the car and headed into the evening traffic for their three hour drive home.

"Well, James seems like a nice young man," Mrs. Evans said.

"He's very nice, Mum," Lily said.

"Isn't he the boy who turned your hair green second year?" Mr. Evans asked.

"Well, yes…" Lily admitted.

"I told you, that's what twelve year old boys do when they like you dear," Mrs. Evans said smiling.

"Yes, Mother, you were right," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"I hope that he was telling the truth about treating you respectfully," her father said.

"Yes, Dad, don't worry. He would never do anything against my wishes. He's been a perfect gentleman," Lily said. She tolerated her father's questioning only because she knew that he was a big softy at heart.

"Good," her father replied.

"I must say sweetie, this one does seem like a keeper," her mother said smiling.

"Mum, we haven't even been going out for two months!" Lily exclaimed.

"I quite agree with Lily," her father said.

Her mother simply gave them both a knowing look.

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The Potters and Sirius arrived at home minutes after saying goodbye to the Evans's. Mrs. Potter went to check on Winnie and see when dinner would be ready. Mr. Potter banished the boys' trunks to their room.

"Dad, Sirius and I could have done that, we are of age after all," James exclaimed.

"Yes, I know, but it's so much more fun to annoy you by doing it myself," his father grinned. "Sirius, why don't you go get an update on when dinner will be ready."

Sirius looked at James and grinned, "Yes, sir," he said with a quick salute and then ran off towards the kitchen.

James sighed. "All right, what do you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

"Just wanted to know how things are going with you and that girlfriend of yours. I know you have that lovely Heads' Common Room all to yourself," his father said looking at him seriously.

"Dad!" James exclaimed simultaneously annoyed and slightly embarrassed by what his father was implying.

His father smiled. "Just checking. It's my job as a parent after all. So, you finally got her to fall for you huh?"

James grinned, "Yeah."

"So, how'd you finally manage it?" Mr. Potter asked.

"I stopped acting like a bloody wanker every time I was in her presence," James stated.

Mr. Potter laughed and then said, "Mind your language, James."

"Yes, sir, but it's the truth," James replied.

His father laughed again. "Well, I'm glad. About time you came to your senses."

James grinned.

"You just make sure you remain a gentleman. I rather liked Mr. Evans. I don't fancy getting a howler from him telling me you've gone and knocked up his daughter. And if you decide to lose your head and do something stupid at least have the good sense to use a contraception charm," his father added.

James stared at his father for a moment, his eyes wide, not sure how to react and then said, "Don't worry, Dad, you don't have to worry about getting a howler from Mr. Evans, Muggles don't know what howlers are."

"That," Mr. Potter said whacking James over the head affectionately with a copy of the _Evening Prophet, _"is besides the point. Now, let's go check on the status of dinner."

Grinning James followed his father out of the study and towards the dinning room.

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Later that night James and Sirius were lounging in James's room listening to The Weird Sisters and reveling in the fact that even though tomorrow was Monday they didn't have classes.

"So, how are things going with Lily?" Sirius asked.

"Surprisingly well," James replied.

"Is it everything you dreamed it would be?" Sirius asked grinning cheekily.

"Better," James replied. "She's absolutely amazing. I don't think I've ever met another person quite like her," James said staring off into space.

"Oh, no," Sirius said dramatically, "I think we've lost him."

"You haven't lost me," James replied. "I just have to divide my attention between you guys and her. I really am sorry that I've been spending so much time with her. It's just, it's new ya' know and…I don't know, I've never felt this way about a girl before…" James trailed off.

"You're not in love with her mate," Sirius said. "We're only seventeen. Well, we'll be eighteen soon, but that's hardly the point."

"I don't know," James replied even though it hadn't been a question. "We haven't been going out very long, but…I think I could love her…if our relationship keeps going how it has been…" James trailed off again.

"Bah," Sirius replied. "You'll get over it eventually. Besides love isn't real. It's all hormones, eventually you get over the hormones."

James snorted. "You're such a pessimist, Padfoot."

"No, I'm a realist," Sirius corrected. "You, on the other hand, are a delusional romantic."

James threw a pillow at Sirius but Sirius was too fast for him. He grabbed his wand and with a flick redirected the pillow back at James getting him full in the face.

"Prat!" James grumbled.

Sirius just smirked at him. "Well, I'm off to bed. Your Mum said something about making Christmas cookies tomorrow and I want to help."

"The Great Padfoot wants to help make Christmas cookies," James laughed. "If only the girls at Hogwarts could see you when you're here. Maybe I should take pictures, blow them up, and hang them in all the Common Rooms."

"You do and I'll hex you into the afterlife," Sirius threatened.

James laughed. "What are you going to do attack me with cookies?"

"Sod off," Sirius grinned leaving James's room and heading off to his own.

James got ready for bed and climbed under the covers. He wasn't tired yet though and so he summoned a book on Transfiguration from his bookshelf. He didn't often sit in bed reading but occasionally he'd make an exception and he'd started this particular book before leaving for school and wanted to finish it. He had thought of bringing it to school but he found it almost impossible to read there, outside of what was assigned for class.

Besides the fact that he usually didn't feel like it after doing all his reading for class, Sirius usually wouldn't give him a moment's peace if he tried to read something. Besides he wouldn't have had time last term between his Head duties, Quidditch, class, homework, and trying to find time to spend with both his friends and Lily. But tonight there was time.

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The next morning Lily woke up and after getting ready went downstairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast. She was happy to find her mother in the kitchen with eggs, toast, and sausage.

"Good morning, dear," her mother greeted her.

"Morning, Mum," Lily said smiling. "Where's Petunia?"

"Oh, she's gone out already. Doing stuff for the wedding," her mother explained.

"Ah, how's that going?" Lily asked.

"Oh, stressful. You know Petunia, everything has to be perfect."

Lily nodded as she helped herself to some breakfast.

"So, you finally agreed to give that poor boy a chance," her mother said.

"Yeah…"

"And?" her mother pressed.

"He's wonderful, Mum. He's sweet and thoughtful and he works hard. I honestly don't know how he manages to balance being Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, and the obscene amount of homework we have and can still make time for me," Lily said. "He's absolutely brilliant. And tell Daddy not to worry, James would never do anything that he would disapprove of."

Her mother laughed at Lily's last comment. "Lily, you know you're father was just giving him a hard time. I mean, you've never had a boyfriend that you've actually introduced us to before," her mother pointed out.

"It's just never come up," Lily said. "I mean you just kind of ran into the Potters."

"True, but can you honestly tell me that if we hadn't invited him to dinner tonight that you wouldn't have brought it up eventually yourself?"

Her mother was right, of course. "No," Lily admitted. "The thought of not seeing him for all of Christmas break is rather horrible."

"Oh dear, I think my little girl's in love," Mrs. Evans said smiling.

"Mummy, we haven't even been dating for two months," Lily said looking at her mother in disbelief.

"Give it time dear, I saw the way you two looked at each other when we were at the station. I wouldn't mention this to your father, however, he might be traumatized," her mother laughed as she said the last part.

"Sure, Mum," Lily said resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"So, what made you finally break down and agree to give him a chance?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"He stopped acting like an arrogant, bullying, toe rag, and took his job as Head Boy seriously," Lily said. "He even took twenty points from our House and gave his best friend detention because he had another student hanging upside down by his ankle."

"He had him hanging upside down by his ankle?" her mother asked.

"Oh, it's a fairly simple jinx," Lily said. "Pretty harmless, really, just embarrassing when one is wearing robes instead of pants."

"Ah," her mother replied.

"But he's really funny too. I never noticed it before, I guess I was too busy finding him annoying," Lily said.

"Well, that's good. It's good to be with someone who can make you laugh," her mother agreed.

Lily had to admit she missed her mother when she was at school.

"All right, well, when you're done do you think I could employ your assistance today?" her mother asked. "We're having guests tonight and this house isn't going to clean itself, I could use your help."

Lily grinned at her mother. "Actually…I have an even better idea."

Lily quickly shoveled her last couple of bites of egg into her mouth and put her dishes in the sink. She then pulled the curtains on the kitchen windows. They were lacy, and therefore full of holes, but they would keep the neighbors from being able to see inside. Lily pulled out her wand and with a few flicks the sponge was washing the dishes of its own accord and a rag was rubbing down all the kitchen surfaces.

Lily's mother watched in awe. "That's amazing," her mother said. "I think you may have to be in charge of cleaning the kitchen from now on."

"Oh, Petunia would love that," Lily said sarcastically.

"Who cares," her mother said. "Just think of all the time it saves."

Lily smiled. "So, what other rooms need cleaning."

With Lily's help, or more accurately, with Lily doing all the work by magic, every room in the house was spotless in less than an hour.

"Well," said her mother. "Since I put the morning aside to do that, what do you say we go do some window shopping in town this morning instead and have a quick bite of lunch before it's time to make dinner?"

"Sounds fabulous," Lily grinned. It wasn't often she got to go shopping with her mother.


	27. Chapter 27 Dinner

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter JK Rowling does.

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been very busy and suffering a terrible bought of writer's block. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter 27 Dinner…**

Lily and Mrs. Evans returned from their shopping trip around two o'clock in the afternoon. Mrs. Evans was glad to see that the roast was fully thawed and began to gather the things she would need to make dinner. Lily, who enjoyed cooking with her mother, had volunteered to help. However, dinner would be prepared the muggle way because as Mrs. Evans said and Lily agreed, "Cooking is fun."

Lily and her mother spent a good portion of the afternoon working on dessert once the roast had been placed in the oven. Lily loved helping her mother make fancy desserts.

Around four thirty Lily excused herself to go get ready. She wanted to be finished before James arrived, as he would be apparating into her room. She showered and put on her favorite skirt and sweater. She missed muggle clothes when she was at Hogwarts.

As she put on the finishing touches on her hair and make-up it occurred to her that she and James had never seen each other in anything other than wizard robes accept for briefly on the train before they changed. This didn't really count though as she usually wore a pair of baggy jeans and usually a baggy shirt or sweater and James was usually in jeans and a T-shirt. It was just a ruse for the Muggles after all. There was never any need to get dressed up.

When she finished she still had at least twenty minutes until James would arrive. She found that she was both very excited and slightly nervous and decided that sitting around waiting was not an option. Leaving her door open so that she would hopefully hear when James apparated, Lily went downstairs to see if there was anything else she could help her mother with.

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It was four o'clock and James was nervously pacing the living room. He and Sirius were currently playing a game of Wizard Chess and it was Sirius's turn. In fact it had been Sirius's turn for the last twenty minutes. Normally James really wouldn't care but as this was supposed to be distracting him from his upcoming visit to the Evans' house, and instead was giving him ample time to obsess, he was more than a little annoyed.

Oddly enough the thing that was bothering him most was what to wear. He had no idea what Muggles wore to this kind of thing. He'd seen pictures in Remus's Muggle studies books, in fifth year, of Muggle men dressed in something called a tuxedo, but if he remembered correctly those were for very formal affairs. He didn't think that was what this was. He wanted to look nice; he just didn't know how to do it. He didn't often wear Muggle clothing anymore, and nothing he owned were things he would consider wearing for something that he had to look respectable for.

"How long has he been pacing like that?" Mrs. Potter asked walking into the room that James and Sirius were in with a bag in her hand.

"Off and on for about an hour," Sirius said not looking up from the board.

"Dear, you need to relax," his mother said. "The Evans seem like lovely people and you made a fine impression at the station yesterday," his mother said reassuringly.

"Yeah, I know," James said. "But what am I supposed to wear?"

"I'd recommend clothes," Sirius said. "Her father seems like a reasonable man, but I think he might be a bit put off if you showed up naked."

James rolled his eyes and Mrs. Potter smiled at Sirius like he was an especially silly toddler.

"What would you do without me?" his mother asked reaching her hand into the bag.

"I went to see my friend Sarah," she began. "Her husband, Mark, is Muggle born and I asked him what you should wear. He's about the same size as you," she explained.

"He gave me these. He says to make sure you don't undo the tie as it takes Muggle males years to learn to tie them. In fact why don't you put the pants, shirt, and shoes on and then I'll put the tie on you. He showed me how to do it," she said taking out the tie and handing James the bag.

James took the bag and went off to change. He spent much more time getting ready than he normally would, largely do to his trying, unsuccessfully, to get his hair to lay flat. Finally he gave it up as a bad job and went back to the living room.

The shirt and pants were a little big for him, but he knew that his mother would be able to fix them up in a jiffy.

Upon entering the living room his mother smiled. She walked over to him and straightened the shirt and then with a quick flick of her wand adjusted the shirt and pants so they fit properly. She then took the tie and carefully adjusted it making sure it was straight and that his collar lay neatly over top, just like Mark had showed her.

"Now, Mark said he wasn't sure if the tie would be necessary, but not to worry if Mr. Evans or Lily's sister's fiancé aren't wearing one. He said that it makes the outfit slightly more formal and that Mr. Evans will be most impressed that you are wearing one, even if he's not," his mother explained.

James nodded and pulled gently at the knot. His mother had put it on rather tightly.

His mother stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Well, I think it looks nice," his mother said.

"Very Muggle," Sirius said. "It's your turn by the way."

"Finally," James said looking at the board.

James looked at the board and realized with a jolt that Sirius was only five or six moves from winning depending on how fast he felt like beating him. However, despite seeing inevitable defeat, he still had forty-five minutes until it was time to leave and he needed something to do.

At five twenty-seven Lily decided it was time to go upstairs. She walked through her door and jumped as a loud crack split the air.

"James!" she said somewhat startled.

"Hi, Lily. I know I'm a few minutes early but I didn't want to be late," James explained running his hand through his hair, which Lily knew, was a sure sign that he was nervous and trying to hide it.

Lily smiled at him. "It's ok."

Lily looked James over checking to make sure there wasn't anything in his outfit that screamed incompetently dressed wizard.

"Where'd you get the outfit?" she asked.

"One of Mum's friend's husband is Muggle born, he gave it to her for me to wear. Don't know what I would've done if Mum hadn't asked him," James said sheepishly.

"Well, who ever it was, you look excellent, very Muggle," Lily grinned.

Once Lily told him that he could pass for a Muggle James relaxed slightly and took a better look at Lily. He had never really seen her in Muggle clothes before. One look and he decided there was something to be said for Muggle clothing

He really wanted to kiss her but he was also mildly concerned about where her parents were and how they would react. Lily, however, resolved his internal conflict for him by bringing herself closer and kissing him.

James's hands instantly went to her waist and he found another benefit to Muggle clothing. Unlike wizard robes Muggle clothes were not connected at the waist and allowed his hands contact with the soft skin of Lily's midriff. He found that he had to exercise rather strong self-control to keep his hands from exploring much farther. Besides the fact that they were in her parent's house, James also wasn't sure how Lily would feel about it. She really did look amazing in her Muggle clothes. They showed her curves much better and fit in a way that was more flattering than Wizard robes.

Lily felt James's hands come in contact with her skin and a chill ran up her spine. He really looked quite good in his navy blue button up shirt and khaki pants. She also was pleased to see that he had worn a tie. Not that it was necessary but she knew her father would be impressed. She reached up to play with James's hair, trying to maintain her focus both on kissing James and at the same time keeping her ears open for the sounds of footsteps in the hallway.

Suddenly James broke their kiss and stepped back from her, just slightly, looking rather annoyed with himself. Lily looked at him curiously for a moment in surprise and was about to ask why he had pulled away when she figured it out for herself. She felt her face turn red in embarrassment, though she wasn't sure if it was embarrassment for her self or for him. She we was also aware that underneath the embarrassment she was rather pleased with herself and that despite James's continual verbal compliments about how beautiful she was she had never felt quite as attractive as she did at that moment. This last thought made her flush slightly again.

James kicked himself mentally. It wasn't that he was embarrassed. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before. It was just less conspicuous when one was wearing robes.

He was also slightly concerned about how Lily would interpret it, especially after their conversation shortly before the start of the Holidays. He knew that, despite his reassurances, she was worried that he wanted more than he let on. This wasn't really true, sure he'd thought about it, what guy didn't, but that didn't mean he had any intentions of acting on it. It had taken him a long time to convince Lily he wasn't a bad guy, and that he genuinely liked her, and he wasn't about to screw that up by moving too fast, even if she would have agreed to it.

"Sorry," James apologized.

Lily giggled slightly in spite herself. "Quite alright, I take no offence," Lily said flirtatiously running her hand through his hair.

James smiled and stepped back a little more now looking sheepishly at Lily.

"Sorry," she grinned.

Touching him probably wasn't the best approach right now. She really didn't want to think about what her father would say if he walked in, or her sister for that matter, as she would probably go tell their father. She knew her mother would take it in stride but she didn't feel like having the conversation that would, inevitably, come later when they were alone. Once was quite enough.

James took a couple of deep breaths, stuck his hands nervously in his pockets, and looked at Lily.

"You ready to go downstairs?" she asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," James replied looking out the door apprehensively.

"Don't worry," Lily said comfortingly. "My father's really a big softy. He just enjoys terrifying, well, Petunia's boyfriends. I've never actually brought one of mine home. Which makes you a bit of a novelty," Lily said smiling.

"Alright, well let's go, before you father decides to start questioning how long we were up here," James said.

Lily laughed and took James's hand leading him out of her room and downstairs.

They found her father in the living room half-watching the latest football updates half-watching for Lily and James coming down the stairs. When he saw them he turned his attention away from the television.

"Hello, James," Mr. Evans greeted standing up and giving James's attire and appraising look.

"Hello, sir," James said pleasantly shaking hands with Mr. Evans, keeping in mind what he had said yesterday about a firm handshake.

"Any trouble finding us?" Mr. Evans asked.

"No, sir."

"Good, good. Lily why don't you go tell your mother that James is here," Mr. Evans said.

James looked at Lily who gave him a reassuring smile.

"Okay, but, Daddy, be nice while I'm gone," Lily said smiling sweetly at her father.

"I make no promises," Mr. Evans said, though he looked as if he were trying to suppress a smile.

"So, James," Mr. Evans began once Lily had disappeared, "You're Head Boy, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir," James said.

"And after graduation, what are your plans?" he asked.

"Well," James began, feeling slightly nervous but fighting not to show it. "I haven't decided entirely but I think I would like to work for the Ministry."

"The Ministry? I didn't know wizards worked for the government," Mr. Evans said.

"Not the Muggle Ministry, the Ministry of Magic," James explained.

"Oh, right, I remember Lily talking about that. I believe she called them a bunch of bunglers," Mr. Evans said.

"Well, the politicians, definitely," James agreed. "But I'm not really interested in the political aspect, not that you can escape it entirely working for the Ministry of course," James explained. "I want to work in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, I'd specifically like to be involved in Quidditch."

"And why do you want to work in this particular department?" Mr. Evans inquired.

"Well, I enjoy sports and there's plenty of opportunity to move up within the Department of course, plus it is one of the few Departments that doesn't consume your whole life."

"I see," said Mr. Evans. "And will it give you financial stability? A job is no good unless you can support a family with it. It's not necessary to be rich, of course, but it is necessary to pay the bills, provide your children with clothes, and put food on the table," Mr. Evans said.

"Of course, sir," James said. Mildly confused as to why Mr. Evans was talking to him about a hypothetical family when he and Lily hadn't even been dating for two months yet. Perhaps it's a tactic to make me him more nervous.

Mr. Evans sat quietly for a moment studying James. James took this opportunity to look around the room; he'd never been in a Muggle house before. He spotted a strange box sitting somewhat to his left. The pictures were moving and talking sort of like wizard portraits but instead of showing the same background and the same person the view kept changing. James must have looked confused because Mr. Evans asked.

"Are you all right?"

"What is that?" James asked pointing to the box.

"It's a television," Mr. Evans said also sounding confused.

"How do you get the picture to change like that?" James asked fascinated.

"You've really never seen a television before?" Mr. Evans asked equally fascinated.

"No, I didn't take Muggle Studies," James explained.

Mr. Evans spent the next several minutes trying to explain to James about video cameras, antennas, and electricity. James had heard of electricity before but never really understood how it worked and he still wasn't sure if he did. The television, however, completely baffled him.

"So, it's not magic?" James asked. "'Cause it looks like magic."

Mr. Evans laughed at James's complete fascination with the television. "No, it's not magic. At least not in the sense that you are thinking," Mr. Evans chuckled.

"And it doesn't get boring?" James asked. "Watching the same thing over and over?"

"Oh, we don't watch the same thing over and over. There are a couple of different channels and each one shows different shows at different times of the day," Mr. Evans explained. "Here, I'll show you."

James jumped slightly as Mr. Evans turned a dial on the box and with a crackling noise the picture changed. James looked at it curiously. It looked like some sort of sport. There were a bunch of guys kicking around a ball on a field.

"What are they doing?" James asked.

"Football," said Mr. Evans. "Don't tell me you don't know what football is?"

James bit his lip and tried to remember if he had ever heard of football before.

"I…I've heard of it," he said slowly. "But I have know idea about the rules or anything."

"You really don't play football?" Mr. Evans asked.

"No," James replied.

"What kind sports do you have?" Mr. Evans asked.

"Well, lots," James replied. "But the most popular is definitely Quidditch."

"Quidditch…I think I've heard Lily mention it," Mr. Evans said.

"Probably," James replied. "The four Hogwarts Houses each have a team and the competition can be intense. And it's just as popular outside of Hogwarts. Most countries have their own leagues and every four years we have a big international competition called The Quidditch World Cup," James explained.

"Sounds a lot like football," Mr. Evans said. "Including the big tournament every four years."

"So how does football work?" James asked.

Mr. Evans launched into an explanation trying to keep it as simple as possible.

Lily walked into the kitchen to find her mother putting the finishing touches on the salad for dinner.

"Mum, James is here," Lily said.

"Oh good. Where is he?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"In the living room with Dad. He told me to come in here and tell you that James had arrived," Lily explained.

"Well, I'm glad he did," Mrs. Evans said. "Could you give me a hand and set the table please?"

"Okay," Lily agreed though somewhat reluctantly. She really didn't want to leave James alone with her father for too long.

"So there's only one ball and the whole thing is played on the ground?" Lily and her mother heard James ask as they walked into the living room carrying a tray of tea and biscuits.

"Yes," Mr. Evans replied. "We don't have brooms after all."

"Oh yeah, good point," James said grinning.

"I wish we had that colored card thing in Quidditch," James said. "It would discourage people from trying to cheat more than simply giving the other team penalty shots."

"It doesn't always," Mr. Evans said knowingly.

"I see you boys are getting along," Mrs. Evans said with a smile.

Lily smiled at James who grinned back.

"I was just explaining to James here about football," Mr. Evans said. "He said Wizards don't play football. Later you're going to have to explain to me about Quidditch," Mr. Evans told James.

"Of course, sir," James replied.

"Well, James, I must say you seem like a fine young man," Mr. Evans said.

James grinned, "Thank you, sir."

Mrs. Evans passed out the tea and the four of them settled down in the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Evans sat in two chairs next to the fireplace while Lily joined James on the couch.

The Evans' spent the next forty-five minutes asking James about his family and the Wizarding World in general. Mrs. Evans was quite surprised to learn that most wizard born children were home schooled.

"So all your parents teach you at home?" she asked.

"Pretty much," James replied. "Sometimes families will work together, especially if both parents work. Like my mother tutored me and a couple of her friends children because she was retired and their parents were still working," James explained.

"So you don't got to school at all until Hogwarts?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"Well, sometimes children from families where one of the parents was Muggle born or if a Wizard marries a muggle they might, but not usually," James said. "Wizards and witches that young don't really have control over their powers and so we tend to attract a bit more attention then we'd like."

"Like that time I turned Alice Turnstans hair fire engine red when she was making fun of my hair," Lily put in.

"Stuff like that happens with wizard born children too?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"Oh, yeah," James said. "Wizard parents always get really excited the first time their children do magic by accident," James explained grinning.

"Really?" Mr. Evans said curiously.

"Yeah, if you haven't shown signs of magic by around six parents really start to worry because it might mean that you're a Squib," James explained.

"Squib?" asked Mr. Evans. His question sounded casual enough but Lily noticed a strange look flash through her father's eyes. However, it disappeared so quickly she wasn't sure if it had actually been there or if she had just imagined it.

"A non-magical person born to magical parents. They're not very common at least when both parents are a witch and wizard, though in families were one parent is a Muggle they're more common. In those families some children might have magical abilities and some might not."

"Interesting," replied Mrs. Evans and Mr. Evans nodded in agreement.

"When was the first time you did magic?" Mrs. Evans asked James.

"I was around three," James said. "Mum had just baked some cookies and I really wanted one but it was almost dinner time and she told me I had to wait. Well, apparently I didn't want to wait, she said she turned her back to finish the last batch and when she turned around there I was sitting in my highchair eating a cookie," James laughed. "Dad said she was so excited she gave me two more cookies," James grinned at the memory.

Lily smiled. She was glad that her parents liked James. She knew they would but she still hadn't been able to keep from worrying a little bit.

At 6:45 Petunia entered the living room interrupting their conversation.

"Mother, Vernon will be here any minute," Petunia said sounding annoyed that they could be calmly conversing at a time like this.

"Relax dear," her mother said calmly. "Vernon is always right on time, there's no need to rush. Everything is all set. The roast will be ready to take out promptly at seven, all the sides are ready, and the table is set."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure," Petunia replied.

"Petunia," said Mr. Evans suddenly. "Where are your manners? Can't you see we have a guest?" Mr. Evans asked.

"Oh, right," Petunia said eyeing James darkly.

Although James wanted nothing more than to hit Petunia with a good hex he figured that now would not be the best time, so instead he decided to be insufferably polite, so as to annoy Petunia and further please Lily's parents. James had a feeling the more Lily's parents liked him the more Petunia would be annoyed.

James stood up and reached out his hand for Petunia's.

"Hello, I'm James Potter. I go to Hogwarts with Lily. You must be her sister Petunia," James said smiling politely.

Petunia gave James a look that clearly communicated that she felt she was lowering herself by being polite to him. However, under that watchful eye of her parents James suspected that she knew she had no choice.

She took his hand, holding it as though he had some sort of contagious disease and said, "Yes, I'm Petunia. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

It was obvious that it was not, her pleasure, but James chose not to comment. Instead he smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. And congratulations, Lily tells me that you got engaged over the summer, you must be very excited."

"Quite," she replied curtly.

The look in her eyes made James quite glad that looks couldn't kill. At least he didn't think they could. Though as Petunia was a Muggle he supposed it didn't really matter if they could or not at this particular moment.

"Petunia, why don't you come help me finish up in the kitchen," Mrs. Evans said in a tone that made it clear that it wasn't a request.

Lily smiled at her mother appreciatively, knowing that it wasn't so much that she needed help but to get Petunia away from James before Petunia decided to be openly rude.

Lily also took the opportunity to excuse herself for a moment to use the restroom. As she walked past the kitchen she heard her mothers voice.

"I don't care if you and your sister don't get along, James is Lily's boyfriend, and our guest, and you will not speak to him in that tone. Do I make myself clear!" her mother lectured Petunia angrily.

Lily stopped in her tracks. She had never heard her mother speak in a tone like that except the one time Petunia had angered Lily so much that Lily had put a silencing charm on her.

"But mother, how could you invite him when Vernon is coming over?" Petunia whined. "Letting her go to that school is bad enough, how can you let her bring another one of them into our house?!" Petunia said sounding exasperated.

"Petunia, I don't care how old you are, or that you're engaged and will be moving out soon but, so help me God, if your attitude doesn't change within the next ten seconds, when Vernon gets here I will tell him that you are grounded and he'll have to come back for dinner another night!" Mrs. Evans said angrily.

Lily heard Petunia sputter when suddenly the doorbell rang. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping Lily quickly took off towards the bathroom where she was supposed to be.

Although Lily normally would have helped her mother she had the feeling that it was best to leave her alone with Petunia until she was invited into the kitchen. When Lily returned from the bathroom she found Vernon, James, and her father all sitting in the living room.

"Good evening, Vernon," Lily greeted him politely.

"Good evening," Vernon replied. He sounded pleasant enough but she noticed he was eyeing her suspiciously.

A few minutes later Petunia appeared in the doorway.

"Mum says that dinner is ready," Petunia said.

"Excellent," Mr. Evans said with a grin. "James, you're in luck. Rose has made her world famous pot roast this evening."

"She makes excellent pot roast," Lily agreed.

"I'm sure it will be fabulous," James replied.

Lily thought that dinner went surprisingly well. Vernon had apparently decided to pretend that the incident that occurred before she left for school had never happened, which Lily was fine with if it avoided further argument. Petunia had apparently been forced into submission by their mother's threats earlier and while she wasn't exactly friendly towards James she was at the very least polite.

Around ten o'clock Vernon excused himself stating that he had to go into the office the next day to get some work done. Once he had gone James decided that he should probably get going as well.

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans, thank you so much for inviting me for dinner. Everything was excellent," James said smiling.

"It was our pleasure, James," Mrs. Evans replied.

"Yes, it was wonderful to get a chance to meet you," Mr. Evans agreed. "You'll have to come over again so you can explain to me about Quidditch. And if you ever want to go to a football game I'd be happy to take you."

James grinned, "That would be great."

"Well, have a safe trip home. We hope to see you again soon," Mrs. Evans said.

"Thank you, again," James replied.

Lily walked James back up to her room so that he could disapparate. As they left the living room she glanced at her father and concluded that they had at least five minutes before he would come upstairs to get something he needed from his bedroom, a route that would take him right past Lily's bedroom.

"Well, that went well," James said as they entered Lily's room.

"Yes, quite," Lily agreed smiling and wrapping her arms around James's neck.

James grinned and leaned in kissing her gently on the lips, his hands finding the smooth skin of her mid-riff once again.

James broke their kiss after a few seconds and glanced nervously towards her door.

"We have at least five minutes until he comes up to check on us," Lily said bringing James's head towards hers again and capturing him in another kiss.

This one lasted much longer than the first one. It started out innocently enough but soon James's tongue was begging for entry into Lily's mouth and Lily was more than happy to oblige. Lily's tongue sought out James's and Lily moaned softly as James ran his tongue across hers. James pulled Lily closer to him his hands sliding under her shirt, slightly higher than before, though James forced himself to keep them from going as high as they wanted to. He wrapped his arms around her back so that she was pressed as close to him as he could get her and still easily reach her mouth.

Part of Lily's mind knew that they were being slightly reckless, her father could come upstairs at any moment, but she found that this added to the excitement. James suddenly removed his mouth from hers. Lily was about to protest when he started trailing light kisses down her jaw line and then her neck. She gasped involuntarily as he hit a particularly sensitive spot. When she did this he stopped his trail of kisses instead concentrating on that one area.

Lily felt her knees go weak and was quite amazed that she was able to remain standing. Lily tilted her head slightly and leaned in closer to James to give him better access to her neck. She let out another involuntary groan as James hit the spot on her neck with another feather light kiss.

Suddenly he pulled back slightly, loosening his grip though still resting his hands on her waist. He rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. She smiled at him and he grinned back. It was amazing how that grin of his could make her melt into a pile of mush. They stayed like that for a minute both trying to slow their breathing back to a more normal rate.

"Why'd you stop?" Lily whispered.

"You said we had five minutes, it's been at least six," James replied.

Lily looked over at her clock. "You were timing?" she asked with a grin.

"Yes," James replied. "They like me, I don't want to go messing that up."

Lily smiled back. "Good point," she said pulling away from James completely. James tried to stop her, but Lily just moved farther away, although she really wanted to move closer.

"As much as I would love to continue, you do need to get home at some point, and if you apparate without calming down a bit you're bound to splinch yourself. And I for one don't fancy having to explain to your parents, or mine for that matter, why parts of you are at your house and parts of you are at mine."

James nodded and sat down on Lily's bed, sighing deeply.

"You really are beautiful you know," James said smiling at her.

"You're not so bad looking yourself," Lily replied smiling.

"Oh, I have a Christmas present for you. I meant to give it to you earlier," Lily said suddenly.

James grinned. "I got one for you too but it hasn't arrived yet. I sent away for it through owl order and they're always a bit slow at Christmas time."

"Well, why don't we wait until it comes and exchange presents when we see each other next," Lily suggested.

"I really did order you one. I didn't forget," James said suddenly looking worried.

"I believe you," Lily replied smiling.

"Oh, speaking of forgetting," James said. "My Mum says to invite you over for dinner sometime during vacation. I'll send you an owl tomorrow so you can ask your parents what a good day is."

"Okay," Lily replied. "Are there any nights that aren't good for your family?"

"Mum said pretty much whenever. The only nights she said aren't good are New Years Eve and Christmas of course."

"What's on New Years Even?" Lily asked.

"The Ministry Christmas Party," James replied. "My parents go every year, even though they're retired now. My father was an Auror for a long time and he still has quite a few friends who work at the Ministry," James explained.

"What did you mother do?" Lily asked.

"She was a Healer at St. Mungo's. She was in charge of the Permanent Spell Damage Ward for like thirty years. Don't know how she did it," James replied.

"Permanent Spell Damage Ward?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, for people who are injured by spells and require long term care. Like if their brains are addled or transfigurations gone horribly wrong that take a long time to correct, things like that," James explained.

"Oh," Lily replied.

"Not always a happy place. Some people are there for years. Mum was talking to a friend of her's who still works there and she says they actually might have to expand it. Apparently Voldemort and his followers are keeping them quite busy," James said.

"I still don't get why the Ministry didn't put a stop to him sooner?" Lily said unable to hide her exasperation.

"Well, as Dad says, they're well meaning, the Ministry, but some of the politicians are too concerned with keeping the voters happy in the present and don't consider the future enough. That's why it took so long to recognize him as a threat. They were afraid people would panic and they were too worried that they might create panic over nothing and anger the public for causing undue worry. Admittedly, Dad also says that, had the Ministry realized earlier just how far Voldemort was willing to go to achieve his goals, they probably would have paid him a bit more attention. Unfortunately, he had the good sense to keep his true intentions hidden until he had enough power to resist the Ministry. Which, of course, makes him even more dangerous."

"Why do mad men always have to be smart?" Lily said.

"I don't know," James replied. "Sure as hell would make things a lot easier if they were stupid."

Their conversation was interrupted when Mr. Evans stuck his head in the doorway.

"It's getting a bit late, Lily," he said and then disappeared down the hall.

Lily glanced at her clock; it was after ten thirty.

"I suppose I should get going," James said. "Mum will start to worry if I don't get home soon."

Lily nodded.

"I'll send Merlin over sometime tomorrow with the dates and times my mother says are good for you to come over for dinner. I'll tell Merlin to wait so you can send your reply back with him."

"Okay, and make sure to include an address so I know where to apparate to," Lily said.

"Will do."

James glanced at the doorway and then leaned over and gave Lily a quick, chaste, kiss before moving to the center of her room and disapparating with a loud crack.

Mr. Evans appeared in the room a few seconds later. "What was that noise?" he asked.

"Just James disapparating Dad," Lily replied. "It's not the quietest way to travel."

"I never realized it was so noisy," he replied. "Well, I must say, Lily, James certainly seems like a fine young man. I have decided to give you permission to continue dating him."

Lily gave her father a skeptical look and they both laughed.

"Daddy, I love you, and I'm certainly glad that you approve of James, but I would have kept dating him anyway even if you didn't approve," Lily said grinning.

"You know I only want what's best for you and your sister," her father said smiling.

"You're letting Petunia marry Vernon," Lily pointed out.

"Petunia loves Vernon, and while you may not be that fond of him, you can't deny that he and Petunia are a good match," her father said.

"No, I suppose not," Lily agreed.

She may not like Vernon but her father was right, Vernon and Petunia were perfect for each other. They were both boring, stuffy, loved orde,r and hated anything they considered to be abnormal. It was why she and Petunia had never been close. Lily had always been considered a bit odd and Petunia didn't want to be associated with her oddness. Though admittedly it hadn't been until Lily had received her Hogwarts letter that Petunia had become hostile. Sometimes Lily even thought it was possible that Petunia was jealous, though she usually dismissed this thought as absurd.

A/N: I know that in the movies they all wear pants with over robes but anyone who has read book four, which clearly the costume designers haven't, realizes that grown wizards don't usually wear pants and shirts.


	28. Chapter 28 Housework and Invitations

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter. Shocking I know but J.K. Rowling refuses to sell him.

**Chapter 28 Housework and Invitations**

James apparated to the front gate of his house, just beyond the apparation barrier, and entered the house quietly, just in case both his parents were asleep. His father, however, was sitting in his study clearly waiting for James to come home.

"A bit late isn't it?" his father asked.

"Sorry," James apologized. "I wanted to wait for Lily's sister's fiancé to leave before I apparated home and then Lily and I talked for a bit before I left and we kinda lost track of time," James explained.

"Just talked?" his father asked giving James a knowing look.

"Well…um…mostly," James answered lamely knowing it would be pointless to lie to his father.

"What about?" his father asked.

"What you and Mum did for work, Voldemort, the Ministry for Morons…" James trailed off.

"Now James, I know the Ministry doesn't always make the smartest decisions but in most things they do a perfectly acceptable job," Mr. Potter said.

"Yes, sir," James replied.

"And as for the other thing," his father continued, "do make sure you think with your brain when it comes to this girlfriend of yours."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, now then, it's late and now that you're home, I'm going to bed. Good night son."

"Night Dad. And again, I'm sorry I was so late," James said.

"Quite all right," Mr. Potter said. "Just don't be any later next time," he added.

James nodded and Mr. Potter smiled.

"You really do like this girl a lot," Mr. Potter stated.

"Yeah, I do," James replied with a grin.

Mr. Potter smiled and ruffled James's hair the way he used to when James was younger.

"It's late son, go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

With that Mr. Potter turned down the hall and headed towards his bedroom. James turned in the opposite direction and headed towards his.

He was glad to see that Sirius hadn't waited up for him, as he was rather tired and wanted nothing more than to crawl into his nice warm bed.

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The next morning James woke up shortly before eight and found that he simply couldn't go back to sleep.

Resigning himself to the fact that he was not going to be sleeping in James got up and took a shower.

Half an hour later he entered the kitchen to find his mother and Sirius happily baking Christmas cookies yet again. Apparently, they hadn't gotten much done yesterday as Mrs. Potter had gone off to see Sarah.

"Good morning, James," his mother greeted.

"Morning, Mum," James replied with a yawn.

James sat at the table in the kitchen and Winnie hurriedly brought him some porridge, eggs, sausage, and pumpkin juice. James couldn't help but chuckle. Winnie always gave him way too much food the first couple of days after he came back from Hogwarts, as if she didn't think the House Elves at Hogwarts fed him properly.

"Did you have a good time at Lily's house last night?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Yes, very. The Evans's are really nice and Lily's Mum is a great cook," James replied.

"Good. I thought it must have gone well as you got in so late," Mrs. Potter replied.

It never ceased to amaze James how both of his parents could chastise him without ever even changing their tones. He knew they weren't angry with him, just concerned that he was out later than he had planned without telling them. Some parents, he knew, would be very angry, but not his. Though he suspected that part of the reason they weren't overly upset was because Lily's house wasn't attached to the Floo Network, meaning he couldn't contact them to inform them that he would be late.

"So, what did you and Lily's parents talk about?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Well," James said swallowing the last of his breakfast, "they were really interested in how the lives of Wizards and the lives of Muggles differ. Mrs. Evans couldn't believe that we're all home schooled. Though, once I explained why, she did agree that it made sense. And Mr. Evans explained to me about the Muggle sport football, which is really popular. They only have one ball and it's played on the ground!"

Mrs. Potter laughed at this. "Well, they can't very well play in the air, dear, they don't have brooms."

"That's what Mr. Evans said too," James replied causing his mother to laugh again.

"Were the clothes I got from Mark all right?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Yeah, they were perfect," James replied grinning.

"Oh good," Mrs. Potter said. "Did you remember to ask Lily about dinner?"

"Yeah, I said I'd send her an owl with times and dates that would be good for you and she said she'd send back an owl telling us when she could come."

"Don't forget to include an address so she knows where to apparate," his mother reminded him.

"Don't worry, Mum, I won't," James said. "I'm going to go send it now, I told her I'd send it this morning. Do you need any help when I'm done?"

"Yes, if you'd like to help I'd really appreciate it," Mrs. Potter replied. "Oh, and let me make a list of times and dates for you to give Lily."

"Okay," James said.

Once Mrs. Potter had finished the list James ran off to his room to send a letter to Lily.

_Dear Lily,_

_Here is a list of dates and times that my Mum says would be good for dinner. I hope that one of them works for you. I had a really great time last night. Tell your parents thank you again for me. I can't wait to see you._

James hesitated as he came to the end of his letter unsure of how to sign it. He didn't want to sign it _Love_ as he wasn't sure how Lily would interpret it. He wasn't even sure what he thought about it. He knew he cared for her more than any girl he'd ever dated, but was it love…He wasn't ready to open that can of worms yet. He finally decided on…

_Miss you,_

_James_

James prodded Merlin awake and then tied the letter to his leg and sent him on his way.

He then returned to the kitchen to help his mother and Sirius with the Christmas cookies.

"But Madame, Winnie should be doing the baking, Madame. Madame, should not be a troublin' herself," Winnie insisted.

"Now, Winnie, you and your family have been serving our family for generations and you've done an excellent job. But I enjoy making Christmas cookies and even you need a break every now and then," Mrs. Potter said. "But if it will make you feel better you can help us clean up," Mrs. Potter said trying to compromise with Winnie.

"Madame and Sir, doesn't need to help Winnie clean up. Winnie can do it. She is not a lazy elf, she likes work," Winnie insisted.

"Non-sense, Winnie, we'll be the ones making the mess and we will help to clean it up," Mrs. Potter insisted.

"Winnie can do it Madame. Winnie is sorry if she hasn't been cleaning to Madame's liking, she will work harder," Winnie insisted.

"Winnie, you always do an excellent job, but this is Christmas and I refuse to make you work even harder just because we've made extra messes. If it makes you feel better why don't you use your extra time while we're in the kitchen to help Twinkle and Ralph, I know they have been working tirelessly to get the house sparkling for Christmas and I'm sure they would appreciate the extra help," Mrs. Potter suggested.

James smiled. Every Christmas his mother had had the same argument with Winnie for as long as he could remember. Once, when James had been about seven or eight he had asked why his mother didn't just let Winnie do all the cleaning since she obviously wanted to and since cleaning was boring. And besides wasn't the point of having a House Elf so that you didn't have to do the cooking and the cleaning?

That had led to the closest thing James had ever come to receiving a real scolding from his mother.

His mother had sat him down and told him that just because House Elves enjoyed work didn't mean that they should be forced to do all the work. Winnie, Twinkle, and Ralph worked hard all year long and had a very tight work schedule as it was and it wasn't fair to add even more to their already busy schedule with the added work that getting ready for Christmas entailed. Winnie, Twinkle, and Ralph would go without sleep for weeks and never admit that they needed help if the Potters let them.

'Is that fair for us to make them do that?' his mother had asked. 'Would James like to go for weeks without sleep if he were a House Elf and his Masters' were able to help him?'

James had said that if the Elves wanted help they should just ask. But Mrs. Potter had said that the terms of the Magical Contract that bound the House Elves to their masters made it unthinkable for a House Elf to ask for help. It had been that way for centuries and generations of House Elves had been brought up by their parents to strictly follow the House Elf "code" as she called it.

While they may not be able to change the House Elves insistence that they didn't need nor want help they could make their House Elves lives easier by insisting on helping out when necessary and Christmas time was one of those times when it was necessary.

She also told him that families who treated their elves like slaves should be ashamed.

'Did James know, that in some homes House Elves had to punish themselves if they made even the tiniest mistake.'

'Like no dessert for a week?' James had asked.

He had been shocked when his mother had said, 'No. They have to do things like slam their ears in the oven door or bash themselves painfully over their own heads. Or for more severe offences they may even have to iron their own hands.'

James remembered he had been shocked when his mother had told him this. He couldn't understand how anyone could treat another living creature like that. Sure House Elves weren't human but that didn't mean they deserved to be treated like they didn't have feelings.

He had asked his mother why somebody didn't do something to stop it? His mother explained that it was very difficult to prove because House Elves were not supposed to speak ill of their Masters and were supposed to keep their secrets. This meant most House Elves who were treated badly would never admit that they were mistreated. She had then asked if James understood why it was important to insist on helping Winnie, Twinkle, and Ralph around the holidays. James had told her he did and ever since then he always went out of his way to not make Winnie, Twinkle, and Ralph have to do extra work, by doing simple things to help them, like making sure to put his toys away when he was done playing with them.

"You'd think after all these years she'd have given up arguing with you," James said finally making his presence known as Winnie left the kitchen to find Twinkle and Ralph.

Mrs. Potter smiled, "House Elves are very stubborn sometimes."

"So, what do you need help with?" James asked.

"Well, I want to put up the garland in the formal living room and rearrange the furniture so that the Christmas tree will fit. Your father has arranged for it to be delivered this afternoon, so we need to make sure the space is ready," Mrs. Potter explained.

James and Sirius grinned. They both knew that Mrs. Potter was giving them the job because she knew they both enjoyed any excuse to use magic now that they were of age. She had spent most of the summer giving them odd jobs to do that required magic simply to keep them out of trouble.

"You remember how the furniture needs to be arrange to fit the tree right?" she asked.

"Yes, Mum, I remember. We've only been arrange the living room that way for the tree since before I was born," James said grinning innocently.

"Hush," Mrs. Potter said. "And get to work. The tree will be arriving around one o'clock so make sure you move the furniture first. Then the garland is already on the back porch; your father picked that up yesterday. Once you have the furniture moved and the garlands up have Winnie help you bring down the ornaments," Mrs. Potter instructed.

"Okay, Mum."

"Yes, Mrs. Potter."

Sirius and James went to the back porch first and brought in the garland. James carried the balsam roping but levitated the blue spruce because the pine needles tended to be sharp. Sirius took charge of the holly and the ivy. The boys piled the garland on the hearth, careful to keep it away from the fire, and then began the process of rearranging the furniture, which, with levitation charms, only took a few minutes.

"So, how was dinner at Lily's last night?" Sirius asked.

"It was excellent, I really like her Dad," James said.

"And how was your Lily?" Sirius asked raising a suggestive eyebrow.

"Muggle clothes are highly under rated. Much more flattering than robes," James replied.

"I've seen her in Muggle clothes. I don't see how they're any better than robes," Sirius said now turning his attention to the garland.

"They weren't like the one she wears before getting on the Hogwarts Express," James explained. "She looked absolutely stunning. Muggle clothes are even more fitted than girls' dress robes and they show off curves way better," James said grinning.

"Really?" asked Sirius raising an eyebrow.

James nodded grinning.

"Perhaps you should talk to Dumbledore about changing the school dress code," Sirius suggested.

James smacked Sirius upside the head. "You're such a prat," James said.

"That's me," Sirius replied. "But I would like to point out that you're the one who started this conversation."

"Touché," James agreed.

James and Sirius spent the rest of the morning decorating not only the living room, but also a good portion of the downstairs. They even hunted down the spell for the never melting icicles to put on the railings and banisters like at Hogwarts.

At one o'clock sharp, the doorbell rang.

"Tree's here!" James called out not sure where his mother was.

"I heard the doorbell, dear, you don't have to shout," Mrs. Potter said coming out of the kitchen.

"The tree is here," James said at a normal volume.

Mrs. Potter just rolled her eyes. Once the tree was in the right place and standing up straight James and Sirius asked if they could start decorating it.

"Not until your father comes home," Mrs. Potter said. "You know he likes to help."

"Where is Dad?" James asked.

"Out shopping. He'll be home in time for dinner. We can decorate the tree after that," Mrs. Potter said.

James and Sirius agreed and having no more decorating left to do decided to go out into the back yard and play some Quidditch or at least toss a quaffle back and forth as it was rather difficult to play Quidditch with only two people. Tomorrow when Remus and Peter came over they'd be able to play two a side Quidditch, which had become a lot more fun the summer between fourth and fifth year when they had created their own special set of rules.

James wished his friends could have come over that day but Peter had to go visit his great-aunt and the boys didn't want to get together without one of their friends. James and Sirius spent the rest of the afternoon in the Potters back yard on the makeshift Quidditch Pitch James's father had helped them build.

When Mrs. Potter finally called them in for dinner the boys' hands and faces were both bright red from the cold.

"What's for dinner, I'm starving," James said upon sitting down at the table.

"Beef stew," Mrs. Potter replied.

"Excellent!" Sirius declared.

"Definitely," James agreed.

After dinner the Potters and Sirius set about decorating the tree. Unlike the rest of the decorating, the tree was done by hand. Sirius had been quite shocked to discover this last year. Admittedly, he was also surprised that the Potters decorated the tree themselves, as it was Kreacher who decorated the tree at his house. Mr. and Mrs. Potter, however, enjoyed taking their time decorating the tree by hand. The one exception was the star and a couple of the other ornaments that were near the top, those where levitated onto the tree because it was simply easier.

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Lily was sitting in her living room reading a book when she heard a tapping on the window. She looked up and saw Merlin sitting, somewhat impatiently, on the sill waiting to be let in. Lily couldn't really blame him, as it was rather cold outside.

"Who's the owl from dear?" Mrs. Evans asked as she entered the living room carrying two cups of tea.

"James," Lily replied taking one of the cups of tea her mother was carrying.

"Ah, and what does he have to say? If you don't mind my asking of course," Mrs. Evans said with a smile.

Lily put down her tea and untied the scroll from Merlin's leg.

"It's a list of nights that would be good for me to go over there for dinner," Lily replied. "He said he would send me one today."

"Ah," Mrs. Evans replied smiling.

"Can I go on Thursday?" Lily asked. "I know it's the day before Christmas Eve, but?"

"That sounds fine dear," Mrs. Evans said.

Lily smiled. "Stay here Merlin, I'll be right back," Lily told the owl who blinked at her. Lily took this to mean he understood and bound upstairs to write a reply.

_Dear James,_

_Mum says I can come for dinner on Thursday if that's ok. I had a great time the other night. My parents both liked you a lot. I miss you too._

_See you Thursday, _

_Lily _

Lily raced back downstairs and attached her note to James to Merlin's leg and sent him on his way.

"When are we getting the Christmas tree?" Lily asked taking a sip of her tea.

"Tonight. We'll go as soon as your father gets home," her mother said.

Lily then decided that she really needed to get some of her homework done. If she finished it now she could enjoy the rest of her vacation without having to worry about it.

When Mr. Evans arrived home Lily had made a good dent in her homework. All she had left was an essay for Transfiguration and the questions Professor Sprout had set them for Herbology. Feeling quite pleased with herself Lily went to join her family in their hunt for the perfect Christmas Tree.

Two hours later the Evans's arrived at home with the perfect tree.

After dinner her father began the task of setting up the tree, making sure it was standing up straight, and putting on the lights. Lily and her mother sat on the couch watching and occasionally saying things like, "It's tilting a little to the right," or, "There's a large spot that doesn't have any lights." By the time the tree was standing straight with the lights on it was after nine and Mr. Evans, who had to work early the next morning, decided it was time for him to have a break. He sat down on the couch drinking a cup of tea and left the privilege of putting the decorations on the tree to Lily and her mother.

While they worked he supervised gleefully saying things like, "There are too many red ornaments in that section," and, "Don't put that there, put it lower, you don't want all the ornaments in one place."

Lily smiled at her father's antics. He always enjoyed "supervising" the ornament arranging as a way to seek revenge for the girls "supervising" the setting up of the tree.

A/N: Sorry my updates haven't been as frequent as they used to be. I've been really busy and suffering from a terrible bout of writer's block. I know where I'm going with the story, in fact I have it written, it's the getting there that's been causing me problems. But never fear for I am finally making progress in chipping away at the wall. It takes time when you have to use a rock hammer and carry the debris out in your pockets.

I would also like to **thank** all of my reviewers out there your comments, suggestions, encouragement, and even criticism are very much appreciated!


	29. Chapter 29 Dinner at the Potters'

Disclaimer: I am not the richest person in the U.K., therefore, I must not own Harry Potter.

**Chapter 29 Dinner at the Potters'**

On Thursday evening Lily apparated to the location James had given her. She appeared just inside a large wrought iron gate set in a brick wall that disappeared into the surrounding trees. James' instructions had told her that the trees would hide the house from view and to follow the dirt road around the bend where she'd be able to see the house. 'Just ring the doorbell and someone will let you in,' his letter had said.

It was quickly getting dark so Lily moved to head down the road. She had only taken a couple of steps when several things happened at once. First the old-fashioned gas lamps lining the road sprang to life. Then, she heard a loud crack split the air behind her.

Instinctively Lily grabbed her wand and spun around to face the new arrival. With all that was currently going on in the Wizarding World there was no telling who or what it could be. As she looked at the face of the person behind her recognition flashed through her mind.

"Oh, Mr. Potter," Lily said trying to covertly put her wand back in her pocket.

"Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Mr. Potter said smiling.

"Oh, um," Lily attempted to say. She could feel her face getting warm and was suddenly very glad there wasn't more light. What a great impression you're making, she thought sarcastically to herself. She didn't want Mr. Potter to think she was paranoid.

"It's quite alright," Mr. Potter said smiling warmly. "In times like these we can, unfortunately, never be too careful."

Lily nodded sheepishly.

"Well, let's go inside, shall we? It's rather chilly out here don't you think?" Mr. Potter asked.

"Yes, it is," Lily agreed relaxing slightly. Mr. Potter seemed to be rather easy going. Though so was James, most of the time, so she supposed it made sense.

"You, know I must say I'm glad my son finally stopped acting like such an idiot around you," Mr. Potter said with a grin. "Only, don't tell him I said that," he added with a wink.

"I won't," Lily said. "As long as you don't tell him that I am too."

"On my honor as a Potter," he said placing his right hand over his heart dramatically.

Lily laughed. She could see where James got his sense of humor from too.

"Now then, my son tells me that you are Muggle born," Mr. Potter stated.

"Yes," Lily said hesitantly. Did the Potters care? Would they not think she was good enough for their son?

"Well, James was explaining to me about this box thing that Muggles have, a T.B. or something?"

"A TV," Lily said with a grin.

"Ah, yes, that's it," Mr. Potter said. "He was trying to explain it but he's still a bit confused himself I think. He said it runs off of electricity and it's used to convey things like the news. But I really don't understand how it works," Mr. Potter explained.

Lily told him that Muggles used cameras that recorded movement and sound and then used a signal, like the Muggle version of WWN to send the pictures and sound to the TVs.

"Well, why didn't James just say that?" Mr. Potter wondered allowed.

Lily laughed. "My father was the one to explain it to him. He probably used all Muggle terms," Lily explained.

"Ah," Mr. Potter replied in understanding. "Here we are," he added.

Lily, who hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, looked up in surprise. In front of her were the steps to the biggest house she had ever seen. In fact if she felt that mansion was really a better word for it than house. The mansion had been decorated beautifully for Christmas. The whole outside was covered in holy and balsam roping.

"The boys did a nice job, didn't they. Mrs. Potter had James and his friends help her decorate the outside yesterday," Mr. Potter explained.

"Oh, yes," was all Lily could think of to say. She was still in awe of the sheer size of the house.

"You can hang your cloak here," Mr. Potter said as they entered the house indicating a rack in the entranceway where three other cloaks were already hanging.

Lily hung up her cloak where Mr. Potter pointed and followed him out of the foyer.

"I'm not sure where James and Sirius are but if I had to guess I would say they are either in the living room with the Christmas tree or outside. I doubt they're in the kitchen as dinner should be in it's final stages and they usually get thrown out at that point," Mr. Potter told her.

"Lily!" she heard James' voice call from behind her.

Both Lily and Mr. Potter turned around.

"I didn't hear the doorbell ring. When did you get here?" James asked.

"Your father apparated in about ten seconds after I did," Lily explained. "He let me in."

"Oh, okay," James said. "Did you have any trouble finding the house?"

"No, your instructions were excellent," Lily told him.

"Good," James said. He smiled and took her hands in his and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. Lily smiled. He could be so sweet sometimes. Though she suspected from the glance James gave his father that his reserve had more do to Mr. Potter's presence than anything else.

"Do you know what the status of dinner is?" Mr. Potter asked.

"Winnie says dinner will be ready at six," Sirius, who had been behind James, replied.

"Excellent. Sirius, why don't you go tell Mrs. Potter that Lily is here," Mr. Potter suggested.

Sirius nodded and headed off to the kitchen. Mr. Potter smiled at his son. "I have to go put these away in my office," he said indicating the bags he was holding. "Why don't you give Lily a quick tour of the house and we'll meet in the tree room in twenty-minutes," Mr. Potter said.

"Okay, Dad," James said taking Lily's hand and leading her away from Mr. Potter.

"Oh, and James," Mr. Potter said sounding much more serious than he had previously.

"Yes, sir?" James said, in a voice that Lily had only ever heard him use when executing his Head Boy duties, as he turned to look at his father. Lily was surprised by the sudden formality with which James seemed to be addressing his father. It was a stark contrast to the friendly conversation she had witnessed not seconds before.

"You are to leave the door to any room you are in open. Is that understood?" Mr. Potter asked with an expression that made Lily certain that this was not a man to make angry.

"Yes, sir," James replied just as seriously.

"Good, twenty minutes, in the Tree room."

James nodded and then turned his attention back to Lily. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes a brief tour," James smiled.

"Your father seems nice," Lily said.

James smiled. "He's great. Usually, he's pretty easy going, though he has his moments. Like a minute ago," James shook his head. "He's just doing his job though, I suppose," James said rolling his eyes. "He always says being a parent is much harder than being an Auror."

Lily laughed. "Maybe being your parent."

"Hey," James said pretending to be offended.

"I have to say though, I don't think I've ever seen you so serious when being given instruction by an authority figure," Lily commented.

"Yes, well, when he gives you that look, especially with that tone, you know he's not joking. I blame his Auror training. He doesn't need to shout to let you know he means business. Come to think of it I've only ever heard him shout once. Mind you, Sirius and I had caught great-aunt Murial's Portrait on fire…" James grinned at the memory.

Lily laughed, "I see."

"So anyway I suppose I should be pointing things out on this tour," James said grinning.

"Mm, perhaps."

"Well, lets see, this is the hallway and that over there is Sirius's room. And this of course, is my room," James said opening the door.

Lily looked around, slightly surprised by how clean it was.

"You're present came yesterday," James said walking over to his desk and picking up a package wrapped in bright red and blue striped paper with a green bow.

"Well, I'm glad I brought yours with me then," Lily replied pulling James present out of her pocket and magically expanding it back to it's normal size.

"Open yours first," James said.

James smiled nervously as Lily carefully unwrapped her present. She pulled the black leather book out of the paper and smiled when she read the title, _Potion Tricks and Secrets_ by Misty Cauldwell.

"Do you like it?" James asked.

"Yeah, this is excellent. Thank you James," Lily said grinning. "Open yours."

James opened his and was very excited to find a new pair of Quidditch gloves. "Hey, I needed these!" he exclaimed as he opened them.

"I know, that's why I bought them. I noticed your other ones had a hole in them a couple of weeks ago," Lily explained.

"Well, now I feel bad, I just got you a book," James said smiling at the gloves.

"Don't. I'm going to read this book, well tomorrow, I'll probably go to bed when I get home," Lily said.

James smiled and moved closer to Lily capturing her lips in a kiss. They stayed that way for several minutes before Mr. Potter's words ran through James' head causing him to pull away.

"We should finish up our tour. We have to be in the tree room in a few minutes," James said.

"Okay," Lily agreed, somewhat reluctantly.

"And this is the formal living room where we always put the Christmas Tree," James said as they entered the living room.

"Ah, right on time," Mr. Potter said. James rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"Well," said James, "you've already been reintroduced to my father of course and I trust you remember my mother," James said pleasantly.

"Lily, so nice to see you again. Dinner should be ready around six. Would you like a cup of tea?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Yes, please," Lily replied.

"So, was James a good tour guide," Mr. Potter asked.

"Yes, your house is beautiful," Lily said.

"It's been in the family a long time," Mr. Potter said with a smile. "I grew up in this house."

"So, Lily, do you know what you want to do after Hogwarts?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"I'm not completely sure yet," Lily said. "I'm thinking about being a Healer or maybe an Auror, but I'm not sure. We have career consultations when we go back to school, though. So hopefully that will help me to make a decision."

"Those are very ambitious paths. Though James tells us that you are in the top of your class so I'm sure that either program would love to have you," Mrs. Potter said with a smile.

"Far more ambitious than James here," Mr. Potter said, though he was smiling.

"Dad," James protested. "I have ambitions. I just want to have a life as well."

His father laughed. "I know son, but I'm your father. Giving you a hard time is part of my job. And you know I take my work very seriously."

Mrs. Potter looked at Lily and rolled her eyes causing Lily to chuckle.

"I feel it's only fair to warn you, dear," Mrs. Potter said addressing Lily. "They all turn out this way in the end," Mrs. Potter said, pointing towards Mr. Potter, with what Lily thought was an impressively straight face.

"Oh, well, in that case," Lily said giving James an appraising look, "I don't know."

"Hey," James said pretending to be hurt. Then he turned to his mother, "You're supposed to be on my side."

His mother smiled cheekily at him and, choosing to ignore him, turned her attention back to Lily.

"Well, let's see. We met your parents but do you have any brothers or sisters or are you an only child?" Mrs. Potter asked.

James made a slightly sour face at this but Lily replied, "I have an older sister named Petunia. She's getting married next summer."

"Oh, how wonderful," Mrs. Potter said.

"She's very excited," Lily said.

"Excellent. Now your parents, what do they do?" Mr. Potter asked.

"My father is an accountant and my mother was a nurse before my sister and I were born. But once she had Petunia she decided to stay home. But now that my sister and I are older, and hardly ever home, she does a lot of volunteer work at the library near our house and a couple of other places," Lily explained.

"I can understand that. I didn't know what to do with myself the first couple of weeks that James was at Hogwarts, it was so quiet. I finally ended up volunteering at St. Mungo's in Permanent Spell Damage," Mrs. Potter replied.

Suddenly a squeaky voice interrupted their conversation. "Excuse me Madame, but dinner is ready."

Lily looked towards the voice and saw a House Elf standing in the doorway.

"Thank you Winnie, we'll be right there," Mrs. Potter replied with a smile.

Lily looked at the elf, Winnie, curiously.

"Oh, Winnie," Mrs. Potter called.

"Yes, Madame?" Winnie asked bowing again.

"I don't believe you've met our guest yet."

"No, Madame, Winnie hasn't," she replied.

"Lily, this is Winnie, our Head house elf. Winnie this is Lily. She goes to school with James and Sirius," Mrs. Potter told the elf.

The elf looked at James and smiled brightly at him. James' eyed the elf nervously. "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Lily," Winnie said bowing respectfully.

"I take it you are familiar with Miss Lily's name?" Mr. Potter asked Winnie grinning.

"No, sir," Winnie said shaking her head and causing her large ears to flap. "Winnie is not knowing anything about Miss Lily, nothing at all," Winnie replied glancing nervously at James.

Mr. Potter looked at his son, who was looking resolutely at the Christmas Tree, and laughed. Lily noticed that James' neck flushed slightly during this exchange.

"It's amazing how an innocent little snack of milk and cookies with Winnie loosens one's tongue isn't it?" Sirius asked with an air of one commenting on the weather.

James shot a glare at Sirius but he just grinned cheekily back.

"Speaking from personal experience are we?" James asked.

"Come on Winnie, what has Jamesie poo told you about Miss Lily?" Sirius prodded.

"Winnie is a good elf. She is not telling Master James secrets," Winnie stated.

"Come on you four, let's go have dinner. I know I'm hungry, I'm sure you all are too," Mrs. Potter said steering the conversation away from the current topic.

As they left the living room Lily saw James shoot his mother a grateful look. His mother smiled back and winked.

"Dinner was wonderful," Lily told Mrs. Potter as Winnie brought in dessert.

"Well, thank you dear but it's Winnie who deserves the credit. I just chose the menu, she did the hard part," Mrs. Potter said smiling at Winnie affectionately.

"Thank you Madame, Winnie tried her best," Winnie said humbly.

"Would Miss Lily like some trifle?" Winnie asked.

"Winnie, I can serve the trifle," Mrs. Potter insisted. "Go have some dinner yourself, I'm sure you're famished after all your hard work."

Winnie looked as if she wanted to protest but Mrs. Potter said, "Don't worry. If we need you we'll call. Now go have some dinner, that's an order," Mrs. Potter said kindly. Winnie bowed and hurried off to the kitchen.

Mrs. Potter smiled and waved her wand dishing out the trifle.

"Did you make the trifle Mrs. Potter?" Sirius asked sounding hopeful.

"Of course I did, dear," Mrs. Potter replied.

Sirius grinned as he dug in.

"Mum makes fabulous trifle," James explained to Lily.

Lily took a bite and had to agree, it was wonderful. "This is delicious."

"Why thank you, Lily," Mrs. Potter said.

Lily had an excellent time at the Potters' and was rather disappointed when it was finally time to leave.

"Thank you so much for having me Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I had a wonderful time," Lily said.

"It was our pleasure, dear," Mrs. Potter said smiling.

"Yes, it was wonderful to finally get a chance to get to know you a bit," Mr. Potter agreed. "I must say, I understand now why James hasn't stopped talking about you for the past what two, three years now?"

Lily saw James glare at his father and his neck turn red.

"James, why don't you walk Lily to the edge of the apparation barrier," Mrs. Potter said. "It can be rather dark at night."

"Okay," James agreed. Not that he wouldn't have done it even if his mother hadn't told him to.

James led Lily back to the foyer where her cloak was.

"I had a really great time tonight," Lily told him.

"Me too," James said taking Lily's cloak off the rack and helping her put it on.

"I can do that myself you know," Lily said.

"I know, I was being romantic," James explained.

Lily rolled her eyes at him and laughed lightly.

"Way to ruin the moment, Love," James said ruefully.

In response Lily stuck her tongue out at him. James, however, far from being insulted chose to lean over and give her a quick kiss causing Lily to smile, despite her best efforts at pretending to be annoyed with him.

"Come on, let's get going," she said.

"In a hurry to get away from me, are you?" James asked.

Lily chose to ignore him and continued towards the door.

They stepped out into the cold December air and Lily shivered. James reached out and wrapped his arm around her rubbing her arms to try and warm her up.

"It's freezing out here," she said.

"Maybe it will snow," James said hopefully. "Christmas is always better with snow."

"True," Lily agreed.

"Alright, I really do need to head home, it's almost eleven. My parents are going to start to worry soon," Lily said.

James nodded and they walked to the edge of the apparation barrier in silence.

"I'm going to miss you," James whispered brushing a stray bit of hair out of Lily's face letting his hand come to rest on her cheek.

"I'm going to miss you too. But it's only a week. We'll be back at Hogwarts before we know it," Lily replied.

James leaned forward and gave Lily a long gentle kiss. When he finally broke away she smiled.

"I'll see you on the train back to school, I guess," he said attempting to sound cheerful. "I'll send you an owl soon and tell you everything that's happening here."

"Only if you tell Merlin to wait until I can write a response," Lily replied.

"Deal," James agreed. "I should have gotten you an owl for Christmas."

"Owls are way too expensive. You don't need to be spending that much money on me," Lily stated.

"I'll spend as much money on you as I want," James replied.

Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"Alright I really need to go. Owl me."

She stepped back and disapparated with a pop.

**A/N:** A special thanks to **KJ COLLECTIONS** my 100th reviewer and of course thank you to all my other reviewers, your feedback, suggestions, and input have been invaluable.


	30. Chapter 30 Confused Emotions

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters. They are the sole property of J.K. Rowling and by extension Scholastic, Bloomsbury, and Warner Bros.

**Chapter 30 Confused Emotions**

The rest of vacation went rather quickly between celebrating Christmas and enjoying New Years.

"Ah, it's good to be back," Sirius said dropping his trunk at the foot of his bed.

"Definitely," Peter agreed.

"Shame we have to go to class tomorrow," Remus said stretching out on his bed.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Sirius groaned.

"Don't be so overly dramatic, Padfoot," James said, grinning cheekily.

"You're just happy because Lily's here. Which, might I add, is rather nauseating," Sirius quipped.

"Sod-off, Padfoot," James said still grinning.

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The next day classes began again. After Charms Lily and Remus headed of to Ancient Runes, while James, Sirius, and Peter headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, not to enjoy their free period of course, but to start on their rapidly growing mountain of homework.

"I can't believe how much homework we have," Sirius complained. "Flitwick has never given us this much homework."

"At least some of it is revision," Peter pointed out.

"Bah," Sirius replied. "You agree with me don't you Prongs?"

But James wasn't listening. He had just spotted Snape. Just the sight of Snape made him want to break something, preferably Snape. James watched Snape shove his way passed a group of Hufflepuff first years, mumbling something, undoubtedly rude, at them as he shoved by.

Without even thinking about it James grabbed his wand and stealthily hit Snape, who was ascending a staircase, with a trip jinx. As soon as he fired off the jinx he quickly stowed his wand back in his pocket.

The jinx hit Snape dead on, sending him sprawling. As his bag, packed full with books, hit the stairs it split open. Several bottles of ink smashed, their contents covering his papers and books. Snape cursed loudly.

Before Snape had a chance to turn and look for his attacker, however, James ducked into a secret passage concealed behind a tapestry, with Sirius and Peter close behind him.

As soon as they were out of sight James broke into a slight run. The came out of the passageway right near the Fat Lady and quickly made their way up to their dormitory.

"Prongs, that was brilliant," Sirius said laughing. "Not only did he never see it coming but he never even saw who did it."

James sat down heavily on the edge of his bed and buried his face in his hands.

"What's wrong mate? You can't possibly be upset over cursing Snivellus?" Sirius asked.

"No, not really," James replied with a sigh.

"Don't tell me you're worried about Lily being angry?"

James snorted, "No."

"Then what's the problem?" Peter asked.

"Snape," James replied.

"Well, thanks for clearing that up for us," Sirius replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," James replied with a sigh. "Lily and I had a slight run in with Snivellus on the train ride home. I'd forgotten all about it until I saw him just now."

"What kind of run in?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, the usual. He called me a blood traitor and Lily well, a you-know-what whore," James replied, his anger evident in both his voice and his face. "He made it sound as if our dating was an abomination!"

"That asshole!" Sirius replied scathingly.

Peter nodded in agreement, a scowl on his face.

"I don't understand what his problem is?" James sighed. "And I hate how it makes Lily feel, even if she doesn't usually say anything, I know it upsets her."

James decided it would be better to leave out the part about how Snape had gotten to her this time.

"He's a jealous, slimy, greasy-haired, git," Sirius answered.

"Yeah, I suppose," James replied laying down on his bed, with his hands under his head.

"He's just…I don't know how to explain it. I hate how he treats people and his bloody dark arts obsession," James said running his hand over his face in frustration.

"Lily is such an amazing person, she doesn't deserve to be treated that way. She's never mean to anyone," James sighed again.

He could see Lily on the train, crying over what Snape had said, and it caused him so many different emotions that he couldn't even begin to explain it.

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An hour or so later James, Sirius, and Peter headed down to the Common Room to meet Lily and Remus for dinner.

They entered the Common Room just moments before Lily, who had been putting her school things away, and her friends came down from the girls' dormitory.

"Hey there, beautiful," James said pulling Lily into a kiss.

"James!" Lily exclaimed, laughing.

"Yes, love?" James asked, his arms still wrapped around Lily.

"What has gotten into you?" Lily asked grinning.

"I missed you."

"It's been like an hour since we've seen each other," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"What, I'm not allowed to miss my girlfriend?" James asked pulling Lily closer, and leaning in to give her a kiss.

"You wouldn't happen to know who was responsible for Snape tripping up the stairs causing his bag exploding in the hallway earlier would you?" Lily asked giving James a look that told him she knew he did.

"It's possible," he said vaguely.

"Was it Sirius?" she asked crossing her arms and cocking her head.

"It could be if you wanted," James replied.

"James," Lily said in admonishing tone, lowering her voice. "You are Head Boy. You can't go randomly hexing people in the halls."

James quirked his eyebrows at her. "He didn't see me. No one did. And I know I shouldn't, but I saw him, and I just couldn't help it."

Lily sighed. "I don't need a knight in shining armor, you know," she said wrapping her arms around James's neck. "I'm perfectly capable of defending myself."

"I know," James replied leaning his head closer to Lily's. "But sometimes I just can't help myself. It's in my nature."

Lily laughed at this. "You're hopeless, Potter, you know that right."

"Only when it comes to you," he replied leaning in to kiss her.

"You're such a prat," Lily said pushing him away playfully.

"There you go, ruining the moment again," James said grinning playfully.

"Oh, sod-off," Lily laughed. "Let's go to dinner, our friends are waiting."

A/N: Yes, it's short, I know but it's all I've got for you this week so I hope you have enjoyed it. Updates may be a little slow for a few weeks as we have now reached the point of my mild writer's block so I'm still reworking the next couple of chapters. But I hope to be able to keep the updates semi-regular still.


	31. Chapter 31 A Brief Interlude

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They are all property of J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter 31 Untitled**

A couple of weeks later James and Lily were patrolling the halls on the ten to eleven shift.

James knew he should be focusing on the task at hand, but he couldn't help casting covert glances at Lily every couple of minutes.

Sometimes he still found it hard to believe that she was his. He had always liked her, but it had been the more obvious reasons in the beginning.

She was beautiful, smart, funny, and a good friend, all the things he looked for in a girlfriend. But she was so much more than that. Every little new thing he learned about her made him like her more. He was fairly certain that he was falling in love with her.

He found this simultaneously exciting and terrifying. What if Sirius was right? They were barely adults. What if it was just hormones? James didn't think it was hormones but what if he was wrong? But how could hormones feel so…right?

Lily glanced at James and grinned to herself. It was hard to believe that less than a year ago it annoyed her, to no end, when he would glance at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Now she thought it was cute.

She was amazed by how much he had changed in the last year. Or maybe changed wasn't the right word. Matured was more fitting really. He was still the same James he was before; he just conducted himself more maturely. At least most of the time.

Lily now understood why Dumbledore had chosen him to be Head Boy. He really had been the best choice. He was a fabulous Head Boy. He was always fair when handing out punishments, even when he was dealing with the Slytherins, and he had never even hinted at abusing his powers and privileges.

"Whatcha' thinkin' about?" James asked.

"You," Lily replied, smiling.

"Good things, I hope," James said grinning at her.

"Of course," Lily replied grinning innocently.

"Like what?" James asked.

"What a fabulous Head Boy you are."

"Really," James asked quietly, wrapping his arms around Lily's waist and pulling her close.

"James," Lily laughed. "I thought we agreed to separate our working relationship from our personal relationship," she admonished.

"Fine," James said, releasing her. "But after patrol…" James grinned at her and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Maybe…if you're good," Lily said with an air of mock thoughtfulness.

"I'll be good, I promise," James said playing along.

Lily laughed, "Come on, we have a patrol to finish."

"Aye, aye, Captain," James replied saluting.

"Have I told you lately that you're a prat?" Lily asked.

"All the time, Love, all the time," James replied grinning arrogantly.

"Just checking."

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Finally eleven o'clock rolled around and James and Lily's patrol was over. It had been a quiet night, they hadn't caught anyone. Lily was happy about this. She really did hate getting people in trouble.

When they returned to the Common Room they found it empty.

"Excellent," James said upon discovering they were alone. "Come sit with me by the fire."

"Well, if you insist," Lily replied grinning conspiratorially.

"I do," James replied.

"I guess I have no choice then."

James flopped down on the couch, pulling Lily with him.

"Now then, where were we, before you so rudely interrupted us?" James asked.

Lily laughed at his antics.

"Ah, yes, I remember," James said wrapping his arms around Lily and pulling her closer to him.

Lily brought her mouth to James's. Within moments of their lips touching James's tongue was begging for access to Lily's mouth, and Lily was more than happy to oblige. Their tongues were instantly locked in a furious wrestling match.

Lily reached up and ran her hands through James's hair, while he wrapped his arms around her running them up and down her back. Lily moaned gently into James's mouth and James lay down on the couch pulling Lily on top of him as he went.

Suddenly, though neither Lily nor James quite knew how it happened, James managed to flip them on the narrow couch so that he was on top. He began tracing gentle kisses down her jaw line and her neck. He continued his trail of kisses along the contours of Lily's collarbone, eliciting another moan from her.

He then returned his attention to her mouth. Lily once again reached up and began running her hands through James's hair and down his back, pulling him closer. She grinned to herself as she realized just how much James was enjoying their impromptu snogging session.

"God, you're so beautiful," James whispered pulling back slightly and then proceeding to trail kisses down her neck again.

James reached up and brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen into Lily's face. He continued to run his hand down her body coming to a stop at her waist and then retracing it's progression back to her face, though much more slowly this time.

Lily inhaled sharply as his hand made its return trip. She reached up once again, pulling James in for another kiss.

After a moment James pulled away slightly.

"We need to stop," he whispered, breathing heavily.

"Why?" Lily asked taking advantage of James' current position to kiss a trail down his jaw line.

"Because if we don't, I don't know if I'll be able to," James replied moaning slightly as Lily nipped at his ear.

Lily paused in her ministrations for a moment and then gave his lips a quick kiss.

"All right," she whispered into his ear.

James sighed and shifted so that Lily could sit up.

"That was amazing," he whispered in her ear, his hand resting on her knee.

"Definitely," Lily agreed, giving him another, slightly more lingering, kiss.

When she finished James rested his forehead against hers. "We should probably go to bed."

"Yeah," she agreed. As if to emphasize his point she let out a big yawn.

"Well, if I'm boring you that much…" he said with a grin.

"You, James Potter, are a lot of things, but boring, is definitely not one of them," Lily said flirtatiously.

James leaned in and kissed Lily again.

"We really should go to bed," she said against his lips a couple minutes later, though her tone made it obvious that going to bed was the last thing she really wanted to do.

"Yeah, we probably should," James agreed reluctantly before pulling away.

"Good night," Lily said as she dragged herself off the couch and away from James.

James caught her at the bottom of the stairs. "What, no good night kiss?" he asked pouting.

"And what do you call what we were just doing?" Lily asked, though she reached her arms around her neck as she said it.

"Snogging," James replied cheekily.

"Prat," Lily said reaching up and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Well, good night then," she said turning and heading up the stairs.

"Hey, what was that?" James asked.

Lily paused on the stairs and turned to face him.

"Well, you never said what _kind_ of good night kiss you wanted," Lily said, grinning deviously, before bounding up the stairs to the girls dorm.

James stood at the bottom of the stairs completely dumbfounded. After a minute he finally snapped back to reality and headed back up to his dormitory.

A/N: I know I just update like two days ago, but I have finally overcome a big chunk of my writers block and have decided to celebrate by putting up an extra post this week! Now in return I would very much appreciate it if you would click on the little grayish blue button that says Go! and leave me a review!


	32. Chapter 32 Guys Night Again

Disclaimer: Alas, I still do not own Harry Potter. JKR just doesn't seem to find my offer of five chocolate frog cards acceptable…sigh.

**Chapter 32 Guys Night Again**

"Come on, James, we're going to be late," Lily hollered up the boys' staircase seconds before James came running down them.

"Sorry," he paused to give Lily a quick kiss.

"Quidditch practice ran a bit over," James said trying to make his hair lay flat as they walked.

Lily laughed at his fruitless attempts to make his hair cooperate.

"Don't know why you even bother, it's never going to lay flat," Lily said grinning.

"This from the girl who used to complain about my hair at least once a week," James said grinning.

"Yeah, well, I got over it," Lily quipped.

"Oh, before I forget. I promised the guys we'd do something on Friday night," James said.

"Okay," Lily replied. "What are you planning?"

"Super secret, Marauder's stuff," James replied grinning.

"I don't want to know," Lily said seeing the devious look on his face.

"It's probably better that way," James agreed still grinning.

"You ready for this meeting?" Lily asked.

"Of course," James replied. "I'm not afraid of McGonagall."

Lily laughed. "Please, I've seen you and Sirius when she talks to you two with that I'm mad as hell and I'm gonna take it out on you, cause it's all your fault look. You turn into a bunch of cowering babies."

"Us, never," James replied. "We just want her to think that we're intimidated, so she'll go easy on us."

"Right," Lily said skeptically.

James knocked on McGonagall's office door when they reached their destination.

Their meeting with McGonagall went well and thankfully wasn't too long.

They left and headed off to dinner.

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It was Friday night and Lily was sitting at a table in a corner of the common room.

"Hey, Lily. What are you up to?" Marlene asked entering the common room and flopping down in a chair next to Lily.

"Homework," Lily replied with a sigh.

"Where's James?" Katie asked.

"Off with the guys somewhere," Lily said with a shrug.

"You let him go off somewhere with them without telling you what he was up to?" Katie asked feigning shock.

"I'm his girlfriend, not his mother," Lily replied rolling her eyes. "Besides that it's probably better that I don't know."

Katie and Marlene both laughed.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Katie agreed. "James will probably have to put them all, including himself, in detention when they're done."

All three girls laughed in agreement at this.

"So since we have you all to ourselves tonight what shall we do?" Katie asked with a grin.

"Nothing too crazy," Lily said. "I've got way too much work to do."

"Oh, come on. We have to be a little bit crazy, it is the full moon after all," Katie said with fiendish glee.

"That's just a myth," Lily said rolling her eyes. "The full moon doesn't actually make people crazy."

"Makes werewolves crazy," Katie pointed out.

"True," Marlene agreed. "But you aren't a werewolf, so it doesn't apply to you."

"Spoil my fun," Katie grumbled.

"Well," Lily said thoughtfully. "We could sneak down to the kitchens. I could go for some junk food."

"You know how to get into the kitchens?" Katie asked incredulously.

"I'm dating James. Of course I know where the kitchens are. How do you think I got all that stuff for our last girls night," Lily said as if it should be obvious.

"Good point," Katie replied.

"Is it easy to knick food from the kitchen?" Marlene asked.

Instead of answering Lily burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Katie asked.

"Come on," Lily said grinning and packing up her things. "Let me put my stuff up in the dorm and then I'll show you the secret to nicking stuff from the kitchen. It's an art form really."

"Okay," Katie and Marlene agreed.

Lily lead Marlene and Katie to the portrait of the bowl of fruit and stopped.

"Here we are," Lily said.

"So, now what?" Marlene asked.

Lily grinned deviously and tickled the pair in the painting, which giggled and turned into a doorknob.

"Ready?" Lily asked.

"Of course," Katie replied.

"All right," Lily said pushing the door open and leading the girls through. "Welcome to the kitchen!"

"Hello, Miss Lily," a squeaky voice said.

"Hello," Lily replied smiling.

"Where is Mr. James?" the elf asked.

"He's off somewhere," Lily replied.

"What can we be getting you Miss Lily?" the elf asked.

"Um, could we just get an assortment of pastries and some cocoa?" Lily asked smiling.

"Of course, Miss Lily. Are you sure that's all you need?" the elf asked.

"Anything else you girls want?" Lily asked Katie and Marlene.

"And to think I was always so impressed with those guys for getting stuff from the kitchens," Marlene said with a laugh. "It's not exactly a difficult feat is it?"

"Definitely not," Lily agreed with a laugh.

Several elves appeared suddenly at the girl's side with a basket of pastries ranging from cake, to cookies, to scones and a couple thermoses of cocoa.

"Here you are Miss, is there anything else you be wanting, Miss?" the elf asked.

"No, thank you so much," Lily said with a smile.

"Anytime Miss," the elf replied bowing.

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"I still can't believe how easy that was," Katie said half an hour later as they sat up in their dorm enjoying the pastries and cocoa.

"Yeah, the whole, 'sneaking food from the kitchen,' thing kinda loses its prestige once you've actually done it," Lily agreed. "Seeing as the only time any sort of sneaking is involved is if it's passed curfew and who hasn't sneaked out after curfew once or twice?"

"No one I know," Katie replied making the girls laugh.

"So, Lily," Katie said grinning. "Speaking of sneaking into the school kitchens…"

"Yes," Lily said with a slight roll of her eyes.

"How are things going with you and Potter? It's been what, three months now, and you're both still alive."

"Almost three months," Lily corrected. "And it's…" Lily picked up a brownie and took a bite giving herself a second to pause and think.

"Well?" Marlene asked.

Lily rolled her eyes again and grinned. "Amazing."

"Amazing? How insightful," Marlene said sarcastically.

"He is by far the best boyfriend I have ever had," Lily added.

"Some elaboration please," Katie said attempting to sound whiny.

"He's sweet and thoughtful and he works hard and he's definitely the best snog I've ever had," she smirked at her friends as she said the last part.

"Better than Mark?" Marlene asked.

"Oh, way better," Lily said. "Makes Mark look like an amateur."

"Really?" Katie asked suggestively, raising one eyebrow.

"Definitely," Lily grinned. "The other night after patrol, we had the common room all to ourselves…" Lily sighed in a slightly overly dramatic fashion.

"Okay, now you're just baiting us," Katie grumbled.

Lily laughed. "Yeah, well, you started it. Seriously though, ignoring the overly dramatic gestures we really did have the best snog I've ever experience in the common room the other night after patrol."

"Really?" Katie asked grinning.

"Mm, it was fabulous. It's amazing how comfortable that couch in front of the fire is."

"Okay, well, guess I won't be sitting there anymore," Marlene quipped.

"Oh, please," Lily said with a roll of her eyes. "Nothing happened. We were fully clothed the whole time."

"So what happened then?" Katie asked.

"I'm not giving you details!" Lily exclaimed torn between exasperation and amusement.

"You're no fun," Katie said pretending to pout. "How're we supposed to live vicariously through you if you won't share?"

"Get your own boyfriend?" Lily suggested.

"Oh, come on. You're no fun," Katie said grinning.

"Give the girl a break Katie," Marlene said laughing. "Besides maybe she just doesn't want us to know how terrible she is at snogging," Marlene grinned deviously at Lily.

Lily picked up her pillow and threw it at Marlene who wasn't quick enough and caught it with her face.

"Ha!" Lily said.

"You know Marlene, I think you may be right," Katie said with a grin.

"We'll just have to ask James about it later," Marlene said. "Poor boy's probably just too nice to say anything. Perhaps he can tell us what she's doing wrong and we can be the bearers of bad news."

"You two are completely ridiculous," Lily said exasperated. The fact that she knew her friends were just giving her a hard time didn't make them any less annoying. "Besides James would tell you you're wrong."

"Only because he's too nice not to," Katie said sweetly.

Lily just rolled her eyes.

"So, I wonder what those boys are up to?" Marlene wondered allowed.

"Didn't we establish earlier that it's better that we don't know what they're up to?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't make me any less curious," Marlene replied.

"So, Lily, do you know when the next Hogsmeade weekend is?" Katie asked changing the subject again.

"There's one next month, but I'm not sure what day it is," Lily said. "Though I'm sure it will end up being close to Valentine's Day," she added with a roll of her eyes.

"I hate Valentine's Day," Katie moaned.

"That's what all single people say," Marlene reminded her.

"I had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day in fifth year," Katie reminded her. "We had as romantic a date as you can have on a non-Hogsmeade day and it was still a stupid holiday."


End file.
